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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26911192">Quarantine AU</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/when_you_know_you_know/pseuds/when_you_know_you_know'>when_you_know_you_know</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pitch Perfect (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Fluff and Humor, quarantine au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:20:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>61,606</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26911192</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/when_you_know_you_know/pseuds/when_you_know_you_know</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Beca asks Chloe to live with her in LA during the COVID-19 outbreak, but when Chloe arrives she finds the rest of The Bellas have come to live with Beca too..</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chloe Beale &amp; Beca Mitchell, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chloe looked around her empty dorm room, trying to hold back a tear while she clung to the handle of her largest suitcase. When she’d started at Davis two and a half years ago she hadn’t ever imagined the world would one day be in the pandemic it now was. Hadn’t ever imagined the college would close its doors and turf it’s students out so they could ‘learn’ within the safety of their family’s homes. Chloe couldn’t even figure out how it was going to work. Training to become a vet required <em>practical</em> learning, not electronic. How much could she learn in her bedroom back at her parents house?</p><p>Her brow furrowed as she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Pulling it out, her eyebrows rose when she saw ‘Beca’ on the screen. Beca <em>never</em> called her. They’d had the occasional FaceTime in the first couple of months that Chloe had been at Vet School, but nowadays it was just a text here and there, and usually in The Bellas group WhatsApp.</p><p>“Hey Beca—” she began but her words were quickly cut off by a breathless Beca.</p><p>“They’re locking down the city.”</p><p>Chloe hesitated. What was she talking about?</p><p>“What are you—?”</p><p>“LA. They’re locking it down.” Beca replied bluntly, and Chloe wondered if the woman was running somewhere. “Everyone indoors. Nobody comes into the city, nobody leaves the city. All from sundown tonight.”</p><p>Chloe swallowed loudly. She couldn’t work out why Beca was telling her this. She couldn’t exactly work out why Beca was out of breath. Was she panicking? Being in self-quarantine for an unknown amount of time with no human contact sounded like hell to Chloe, but she’d always assumed Beca <em>liked</em> being on her own.</p><p>“Come live with me?” Beca suddenly burst and Chloe’s mouth dropped open as her estranged best friend continued desperately, “I don’t want to do this quarantine thing alone. I know I’ll be working and stuff but you have your studies so it could totally work.”</p><p>Chloe hesitated again while she felt her heart and stomach begin to swirl. She’d worked hard these past couple of years to try to banish her deep unrequited love for the woman. And she thought she’d been successful. But the idea of being cooped up in Beca’s (admittedly large) LA mansion for an unknown period of time - possibly months on end - brought her unrequited love rushing back. This would be the most perfect situation.</p><p>“It’s making me a bit anxious that you’re not saying anything right now.” Beca admitted down the phone, clearly nervous as she rambled, “I know it’s a lot to take in and you literally have about 6 hours before sundown so you’d probably need to catch an Uber right now to get down here and it’s like a huge life decision because it means pretty much moving your whole life down here for like the rest of the year and I’m only giving you a few minutes warning and—”</p><p>“Okay.” Chloe blurted suddenly and she could practically hear Beca’s heart stop beating down the phone momentarily while she processed Chloe’s answer.</p><p>“Okay?”</p><p>“Yeah.” the redhead replied, a smile sweeping across her face, “Okay, I’ll get my Uber to redirect to LA. I’ll go into quarantine with you.”</p><p>“A-Amazing.” Beca stuttered, letting out a heavy exhale and it served to spread Chloe’s smile broader.</p><p>“Be with you in 6 hours?”</p><p>“Uh y-yeah. Yeah.”</p><p>—————</p><p>Chloe dragged both of her large suitcases up the long path and stopped at the large front door of Beca’s mansion. Her heart raced with excitement and nerves as she brought her hand up to pull the doorbell.</p><p>“Chloe!”</p><p>Chloe’s brow furrowed in confusion and she turned to look over her shoulder just as the large front door opened. Her heart sank as she saw Aubrey, Stacie, Bella, Jessica, Ashley, and Emily striding up the path towards her, all with their own suitcases. They were grinning and waving excitably at her. And that was when Chloe felt a wave of disappointment.</p><p>Because Beca hadn’t just invited her to join her quarantine. She’d invited the rest of The Bellas too. The redhead forced a smile onto her face, turning to greet Beca with her cheeriest of greetings. But to her surprise she found herself face-to-face with Fat Amy instead, Beca peering apologetically over the Australian’s shoulder.</p><h2>[Two hours earlier]</h2><p>Beca let out a satisfied exhale, her hands on her hips as she looked at her guest bedroom. She’d worked hard the past few hours since speaking to Chloe trying to rearrange the room so it was exactly how Chloe would like it. She was excited - if not a little apprehensive - about sharing a living space with her estranged best friend again.</p><p>She’d missed Chloe desperately. Had been so busy, and was aware that Chloe had been busy with school. But this awful pandemic was, in a way, a good excuse to spend some quality time together. Just the two of them.</p><p>Beca had been battling with a huge crush on Chloe for a few years now, and while she’d tried to quash it since they’d gone their separate ways a couple of years ago, the idea of being in close proximity with her again fuelled that crush once more. Beca was in deep. And she desperately hoped that perhaps this time in quarantine together might bring them closer. Perhaps she’d be able to persuade Chloe to become more than just friends with her..?</p><p>The doorbell rang and Beca’s brow furrowed. Chloe had arrived from Davis far sooner than she’d expected. She dashed out of the guest bedroom, and down the hallway, through the open living space and over to the front door.</p><p>But as she tugged it open her heart plummeted. Because stood before her wasn’t Chloe. It was Fat Amy and <em>Lilly</em>. Both with massive suitcases. Both grinning at her.</p><p>“What up Shawshank?” Amy greeted, before muscling past the petite brunette and entering the house. Lilly followed, muttering something. Beca’s mouth remained open in shock.</p><p>“What-?” she asked motioning to the suitcases. Though she had a sinking feeling she already knew the answer…</p><p>“We heard rumours the whole country was going to be locked down.” Amy explained with a huge exhale of relief while she sat on a particularly comfy couch, “So I suggested to The Bellas that we all quarantine together.”</p><p>“The Bellas?” Beca asked, the door closing over behind her. But the door was pushed back open before closing, and Beca turned to see Cynthia Rose and Flo stepping inside with big grins on their faces.</p><p>“Yeah.” Amy continued, reaching for the TV remote, “And we agreed you probably have the biggest most accessible place.”</p><p>“Right.” Beca replied, trying not to sound too irritated. What was this, college? She’d spent too long living alone here. Could she now share it with 10 other people? And where was everyone going to sleep?? She only had five bedrooms. There were 11 Bellas.</p><p>“Thanks Beca.” Cynthia Rose gushed, grinning as she clapped Beca on the back then headed over to the couch to join Amy in watching the TV.</p><p>Beca grimaced internally. This was going to be a looong year if they were all quarantined together until 2021…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So we’re agreed this is the final schedule?”</p><p>Beca closed her eyes with a quiet sigh, her left hand sweeping back and forth slowly over her forehead while she held her beer bottle in her right hand. Unbelievably it’d been seven hours since The Bellas had all rocked up unannounced to Beca’s LA mansion. Cocktails followed by beer and champagne had been quickly passed around between the eleven women. And while the supplies of alcohol were already quickly depleting, Beca had to admit, there was sort of something quite nice about all being together under one roof.</p><p>As Emily had fondly put it, it was like being in college again. Stacie was still making sexual innuendos, Flo was still referencing her ‘home country’, CR still oggled the goodies, Lilly remained silent while contributing to conversation by muttering things under her breath, Jessica and Ashley were as forgettable as ever while doing some craft project nearby, Emily still reacted to stories told with wide-eyed wonder, Fat Amy had opened pretty much every snack in the kitchen cupboards - scattering the packets and contents across the large low table in the lounge area where the girls were gathered, Aubrey was still her usual annoyingly organised self - attempting and (frustratingly) succeeding in compiling a schedule of daily routine for the eleven of them to stick to.</p><p>The one thing Beca couldn’t admit was ‘just like college’ was glaringly obvious to her. Though whether it was glaringly obvious to any of the others, she couldn’t be sure. Chloe. Chloe wasn’t sat near her like she always used to do back at Barden. Chloe was sat out of her eyeline, two people down from Beca on the couch. And Beca hadn’t expected to notice or to be bothered, but she really did and she really was.</p><p>Chloe <em>had</em> noticed though. Yes the alcohol was now gratefully in her system, and she was now rather giddy at the thought of being able to spend so much quality time with her best friends in the coming weeks. But a knot still remained in her stomach.</p><p>Beca hadn’t looked at her once since arriving here. And Chloe felt bitterly disappointed. She’d been under the impression on the way here that it’d just be she and Beca together in isolation. Her chance to tell Beca how she’d felt about her in college. How she felt about her now. But there was no way they’d get a moment alone with The Bellas around..</p><p>“I’m a <em>little</em> concerned about the amount of yellow drawn on that schedule.” Fat Amy said with her mouthful, pointing an index finger covered in Cheetos dust towards the board Aubrey was holding out. Beca couldn’t even work out where the woman had had room to <em>pack</em> a board of that size. Yet here it was, colour coordinated (of course), with a ridiculous amount of activities and day-to-day tasks that suddenly turned this whole isolation experience into what Beca imagined Boarding School was like - trapped doing things she didn’t want to do.</p><p>Like a block of yellow activities every morning indicated workouts of some sort (led by Stacie, Aubrey, and Chloe respectively). Blocks of green indicated mealtimes or snacks (“Yeah no there are way too few of those.” Fat Amy quickly interrupted Aubrey’s talk-through, “There needs to be at least one more between 10am and midday, and at least another <em>three</em> between 1pm and 5pm.”). Blue was ‘arts &amp; crafts’ led by Jessica and Ashley. Red was ‘self care’ - it was up to each Bella to take themselves off to do whatever they interpreted that as. Purple was ‘family time’ (“For like contacting your families or whatever.”). And orange was a ‘misc activity’ - more often than not cooking with Flo, or card games with CR, or self-defence with Fat Amy, or wilderness training with Lilly, or Calligraphy with Emily, or music mixing with Beca, or dance with Chloe.</p><p>“Amy, exercise is important in times like these.” Aubrey replied seriously, in a tone that oozed mild impatience. Fat Amy was too laid back to argue, so she just shrugged, and resumed attention on the nearest snack bag to her.</p><p>“Uh, has anyone forgotten there’s a <em>baby</em> here too?” Beca asked awkwardly with her hand raised as though they really <em>were</em> at school. The eleven women all turned to little Bella who was sat on a giant beanbag staring down at her own personal kid-iPad, watching a Disney movie with giant headphones over her ears.</p><p>Chloe smiled gently, having quickly glanced from the two and a half year old over to Beca who seemed to be peering nervously at the sweet little child. She knew Beca didn’t really know what to do with kids. It wasn’t that the woman didn’t like them. She just didn’t know how to interact with them and all the responsibility of potentially taking care of one overwhelmed the brunette.</p><p>“She’s not a baby, Beca. She’ll be three in a few months.” Stacie corrected, and Beca shrugged.</p><p>“I dunno what the rules are with babies ages-”</p><p>“<em>Not</em> a baby-”</p><p>“-Ladies!” Aubrey burst, holding a hand out to cancel an impending bicker, “We’ll all be doing our bit to watch Bella if and when it requires.” she answered firmly, as though it were a given that now they were all under the same roof they all had parental responsibility for the youngest of the group. Beca was apprehensive..</p><p>“Right, so I guess we’d all better get to bed seeing as we have an early start in the morning.” came Aubrey’s next ‘suggestion’ (which was more of an order). The rest of the women looked at one another, clearly silently toying with the idea of objecting. But age was catching up with most of them and all conceded they weren’t the party animals they once were back in Barden.</p><p>So as Aubrey rose to her feet, Jessica, Ashley, CR, Flo, Lilly, and Emily all followed. Stacie headed for her daughter, scooping her up with a grin and passing her around to say goodnight. The only Bellas to not get up were Beca, Chloe, and Fat Amy. They watched as their friends left the communal area for the bedrooms at the back of the property. Lilly headed outside to the large tent she’d skilfully and swiftly built in the back yard earlier.</p><p>And then there was just three of them. Alone. No sound but the chatter of distant Bellas and low music playing from the mansion’s Sonos system.</p><p>Chloe let out a short sharp exhale, a forced smile sweeping onto her face while she rose to her feet. She reached out and grabbed armsfull of empty glasses and bottles, then headed towards to open plan kitchen to place them on the side and fill the dishwasher.</p><p>Beca watched her go, biting her bottom lip. The sleeping situation was definitely not what she’d hoped. Chloe wasn’t in the guest bedroom Beca had prepared for her, nor were they both sharing a bed. Emily had asked Chloe if she wanted to share, and Chloe had merrily agreed (though unbeknownst to Beca, the redhead had thought Emily had been suggesting they share the bottle of rosé in her hand at the time). Aubrey and Stacie had called dibs on the larger guest bedroom, which had a large enough bed to fit the two of them <em>and</em> Bella. An odd combo in Beca’s eyes was CR and Flo, but from the sounds of things they kept in regular contact with each other so they took another guest room. Jessica and Ashley sharing a room was a no-brainer.</p><p>Which left the final bedroom - Beca’s bedroom - for herself and Fat Amy to share. <em>Great.</em></p><p>“Listen, Ames.” Beca whispered, sitting forward on the edge of the couch she’d been perched on and leaning towards the Australian, whose eyebrows rose in response to her nickname to show she was listening, “Dya think you could, maybe, give me and Chloe a few minutes alone?”</p><p>Fat Amy’s eyes widened in delight and Beca’s chest suddenly tightened. Oh god. She was going to make a thing of this.</p><p>“So you can finally tell Chloe how you feel about her?” Amy whispered back eagerly, having shuffled to the edge of the seat she’d been sat on, glancing over briefly at Chloe while the redhead noisily filled the dishwasher.</p><p>“Ye-<em>no</em>!” Beca quickly answered quietly, “No, I just…we haven’t seen each other in so long and we used to be really close you know? So-”</p><p>“-So you want to ask her out on a date.” Amy attempted to finish seriously. Beca’s nose scrunched up. Sure it would be nice to have the confidence to ask Chloe out but given their current situation - being quarantined under the one roof with nine of their close friends and a <strike>baby</strike> nearly three year old - would make things complicated and hard work and risky and-</p><p>“How would that even work?” Beca replied in an exasperated tone, “We’re quarantined, remember? With you guys!”</p><p>“I could plan it? I’m a brilliant planner.”</p><p>Beca’s face changed to a look of disbelief and she sat back slightly, “Uhuh?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Name one time you planned something.”</p><p>“Well I got us all here together didn’t I?”</p><p>Amy had her there, and after a moments consideration Beca let out a short sigh, her shoulders slumping.</p><p>“Alright fine,” Beca said with an exhale, “you planned something, but-”</p><p>“-What’re you guys talking about?”</p><p>Chloe’s sudden voice appearing nearby had Beca and Fat Amy jumping out of their skin and as an automatic response they both yelped “Nothing.” in unison.</p><p>Chloe’s eyebrows rose. Her friends were acting weird. And since when did they start keeping secrets from one another? The three of them used to be so close - after all, they’d once lived together in a tiny studio apartment once upon a time. Now Chloe felt a wave of sadness while feeling like an outsider peering in.</p><p>“I uhhhhh,” Fat Amy began, rising sharply to her feet, “need to get something from my suitcase.”</p><p>Chloe opened her mouth to ask Amy what was going on but the blonde didn’t stick around, promptly dashing away to the back of the property and out of sight.</p><p>“I didn’t invite them here you know.” Beca confessed nervously, wringing her hands a little while she stared somewhat desperately at Chloe. The redhead, who was perched on the arm of the couch nearby smiled politely at her friend, reaching for her phone that had slipped between a couple of large cushions.</p><p>“You don’t have to be modest around me, Beca.” she replied kindly, taking hold of her phone and sitting upright once more, “I think it’s nice that you asked us here to stay with you.”</p><p>“I’m not being modest.” Beca quickly insisted, “I’m serious. They turned up out of the blue. It was only supposed to be me and you here.”</p><p>Chloe’s mouth became dry while she looked over at Beca. She hesitated. It had only supposed to be them? <em>Why</em>?</p><p>“Why are you telling me this?”</p><p>Beca’s heart leapt into her throat and she felt it thump away while she tried to find the courage to tell Chloe the truth. Chloe, whose bright blue eyes bore into hers. Those bright blue eyes that Beca had been daydreaming about for months. <em>Years</em>.</p><p>“Because…I-”</p><p>But Beca’s sentence was cut off by a voice calling out from the strip of hallway where the bedrooms stood, echoing out into the open space that Beca and Chloe were sat in.</p><p>“Chloe, did you still want to use my hair rollers tonight?”</p><p>Beca’s mouth snapped closed as Chloe hesitated again, clearly caught off guard by Aubrey’s question. The redhead didn’t turn her gaze from Beca’s, but she did call out a reply.</p><p>“Yeah, uh, just a minute!”</p><p>The room fell silent once more, neither noticing the quiet sound of <a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Ftrack%2F51mxmO1J0l5NOmkq69tI99%3Fsi%3DU8xe0txAQ8GSM6-ee2XNpw&amp;t=NmI2YzAzY2Q3MWQ3OTk1OWE2YjUxMTA0ODA5MjY0YThiY2NjNDQyMCxjYThlZjYyYjRmZTZkN2FmNTMwYTg2ZDJiNmM3MzM1YjUyNDc0MmUz"><b>a song by Emeli Sandé</b></a> playing through the Sonos above them. They’d not been alone together for a very long time. Not since the week after the end of the USO tour, the week before they’d parted ways in Brooklyn. Neither had taken the time back then to savour the moments shared that week. But it were moments that rolled around in their respective minds over and over again.</p><p>It soon became apparent to Chloe that Beca wasn’t going to tell her what she’d meant when she’d intended on only inviting <em>her</em> to join in isolation, not the rest of The Bellas. So with a gentle sigh, she rose to her feet.</p><p>“I’ve really missed you.” she confessed softly, followed by a small purse-lipped smile on her face. She watched as Beca nodded gently, acknowledging the confession and perhaps even agreeing that she’d missed Chloe in return. “See you in the morning.”</p><p>Beca watched, her chest aching, as Chloe slowly turned and headed for the bedrooms at towards the back of the property, calling out feebily, “Yeah. Goodnight.”</p><p>She saw Chloe glance over her shoulder at her with a kind smile, before the redhead disappeared from view into Aubrey, Stacie, and Bella’s bedroom.</p><p>“<em>Did-you-tell-her?</em>”</p><p>The voice came from nowhere, directly into her left ear, and Beca yelped. She surged forward to stand in a panic, turning to see Lilly blinking up at her with her wide bug-eyes. When the hell had the girl snuck in from outside??</p><p>“Uh, wh-what?” Beca asked, her breath slightly taken such was her initial fright. Because she only thought she’d heard what Lilly had mumbled. Unfortunately, Lilly mumbled the exact same words again and again Beca failed to understand.</p><p>“Sorry dude, I-I can’t hear you. What did you say?”</p><p>Lilly let out the tinest huff of exasperation, rolled her eyes, then slowly stood and sidled back outside. Beca watched her go, her brow furrowed in confusion. Then she yelped once again as she felt a heavy hand land on her shoulder. She spun on the spot to see Fat Amy face-to-face with her.</p><p>“JE-sus!!” Beca blurted, her heart racing with fear at the second shock to her system in mere seconds. This was <em>definitely</em> going to be a long year if things carried on like this.</p><p>“Did you ask her?” Amy asked seriously, a slight twinkle in her eyes.</p><p>“Ask who what?” Beca checked, pulling away from Amy’s grip to pick her phone up from the low table by the couch. But she knew the answer already.</p><p>“Chloe.” the Australian whispered in a low voice, checking briefly over her shoulder to make sure the redhead wasn’t within earshot, “Did you ask her on a date??”</p><p>Beca rolled her eyes, and stepped past her best friend to head for her bedroom while she mumbled, “No.” in a defeated tone. A tone that revealed to Fat Amy that she’d been right, Beca <em>did</em> still have a thing for Chloe. And if one thing was for sure, once Amy knew a secret like that, she’d do everything in her power as Beca’s best friend to hook her and Chloe up. If it was the last thing she did..</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The nattering and giggling and hub of excitement within Beca’s home eventually petered out by midnight, the women in their respective beds all tired from travelling to LA and dealing with the alcohol in their system. For the most part the home was plunged into darkness. All except for a tiny lamp that remained on in Chloe and Emily’s shared bedroom.</p><p>Chloe stared up at the ceiling, gently chewing on her bottom lip while her fingers twirled a lock of her long red hair. She replayed her earlier interaction with Beca over and over, trying to work out what the woman had meant when she’d said that she’d initially only wanted to isolate <em>with her</em>. But she couldn’t come up with an answer.</p><p>“Hey Emily? Can I ask you something?” Chloe eventually asked, turning onto her left side to look across the room. Sat upright in her own single bed was Emily, her knees tucked up to her chest while she scrawled something in a notebook. The brunette glanced over from her writing, looking tired but content.</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>Chloe took a breath, trying to come up with the best way to start the sentence. To ask a question she’d been toying with for over an hour, laying in her single bed, staring at the ceiling.</p><p>“Hypothetically, if someone asked you to go into quarantine with them-?”</p><p>“-Well Amy did, remember?” Emily quickly interrupted, her knees dropping down and her notebook flopped down the side, “That’s why we’re all here.”</p><p>“Yeah I know I just…” Chloe tried not to sound frustrated. It wasnt Emily’s fault she didn’t know the exact details of what Chloe was trying to find out here, “…meant, <em>hypothetically, </em>if they asked you to isolate just the two of you…would you do it?”</p><p>“Um…well it depends.” Emily replied, her brow slightly furrowed, “Do I hypothetically know them?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Do I know them well?”</p><p>“You’ve…” Chloe paused. Dare she say it? Perhaps if she just fleshed out the ‘hypothetical’ situation a bit, “…got a crush on them.” she eventually revealed, hoping that the young Bella wouldn’t read between the lines at all. Emily’s eyes widened, clearly intrigued by this latest piece of information.</p><p>“Ooh well then I’d definitely do it!” she replied in a keen voice, an excitable smile on her face. Chloe wasn’t actually surprised that it was Emily’s response. The brunette was a complete romantic when it came to matters of crushes or love.</p><p>Chloe bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully, then decided to finally get to the real question she’d been dying to ask Emily. The question that would make things seem a bit clearer in terms of Beca and what the woman had said earlier:</p><p>“Do you think them asking you to join them - just the two of you - is them saying that they have a crush on you too?”</p><p>Emily paused for a moment, clearly considering her response carefully. That moment felt like a lifetime for Chloe whose heart had begun racing in anticipation of her friend’s answer. It would be the turning point in her friendship with Beca for sure. If it became apparent even to an outsider that asking to exclusively quarantine with one person was essentially a declaration of a crush (or perhaps even ‘love’?) then it’d give Chloe more reason to keep an eye out for any further ‘advances’ Beca might make towards her.</p><p>“Yeah. Yeah I guess it would.”</p><p><em>It</em> <em>would</em>. Emily <em>agreed</em> that it would. Chloe wasn’t sure what to do with that information. A smile spread across her face as she thought about Beca earlier in the day potentially going crazy trying to pluck up to courage to invite Chloe down to live with her - just the two of them - until this worldwide pandemic had ended. A crush. Beca had a crush on her. She <em>had</em> to! Nothing else would explain why Beca had only wanted <em>her</em> here and nobody else. Nothing else could explain why Beca had been quick to insist to Chloe that she <em>hadn’t</em> invited the other Bellas, but that they’d just turned up unannounced.</p><p>“Why?” Emily asked, snapping Chloe from her thoughts, “Did your crush ask you?”</p><p>“Um…” Chloe began, briefly tempted to deny it. But denying it would just make this whole conversation so peculiar that Emily might ask more questions, “…yeah.”</p><p>“Oh my God!” the brunette burst with a grin, sitting up straight to give Chloe her full undivided attention, “Why did you say no??”</p><p>Chloe couldn’t bring herself to say “I didn’t.” So instead she let out a sigh, and moved onto her back to stare at the ceiling again. Her fingers knitted together on her stomach as she thought about Beca once more.</p><p>“I dunno.” she replied.</p><p>———</p><p>Beca let out a heavy sigh, followed by a slight wince and she shifted her hips. The motion caused the large couch cushions she was laying on to shift, and her butt slipped down between them. Fat Amy had asked if Beca had wanted to share the giant bed in Beca’s bedroom, but Beca had shared a room with Amy for three years in college and a further two years post graduation. She knew the woman sprawled. There was no way she’d get any more sleep than usual. So she and Amy had dragged the large couch cushions from the lounge through to the bedroom and had arranged them into some sort of makeshift bed. Weirdly it was no more uncomfortable than the couch-bed she and Chloe had shared back in Brooklyn.</p><p><em>Chloe</em>.</p><p>The brunette pulled her body from the gap and shuffled her legs and feet until the cushions moved and the gap closed. She then let out another heavy sigh. This was the worst. Well…not the <em>worst</em>. But it sure as hell hadn’t been what she’d planned.</p><p>Chloe was still here at least. But so were the rest of The Bellas.</p><p>“Still thinking about Chloe?” Fat Amy asked through the darkness. Beca rolled her eyes. Why the hell was the woman still awake?</p><p>“It’s okay if you are, you know.” Amy continued, knowing better then to wait for a response from Beca most of the time. Because more often than not Beca chose to not respond when Amy was probing for private details. “With an apocalypse happening out in the world right now you’ll probably want to tell her how you feel about her. Just in case something happens to you. Or her.”</p><p>Beca’s stomach knotted and she felt a little sick at the thought of meeting certain doom without having ever told Chloe how she truly felt about her. They were under the same roof for the first time in a good couple of years. The only thing was The Bellas were here too..</p><p>“She could get sick. She could die in an instant. She could have a really horrible prolonged death when she basically sleeps and sleeps until one day she’s dead. She could run away, scared of infecting you or being infec-”</p><p>“-Amy would you please stop?” Beca asked sharply, her chest feeling heavy. She’d been feeling anxious enough about this whole ‘pandemic’ thing. Terrified that she’d get it and die alone. But dread filled her body as she thought about a far worse alternative - Chloe getting this virus and dying right before Beca’s eyes. Or Chloe getting the virus <em>from</em> her! Beca inadvertently being the reason why Chloe became sick and died.</p><p>“You should really tell her how you feel, Beca.” she thought she heard Amy say. But then she wondered if it was just a voice in her head. The voice that had once told her to tell Chloe, back in the days when they lived together in Brooklyn.</p><p>“What did you say?” Beca asked tentatively, the only thing she could think of saying and hoping that Fat Amy would say that she hadn’t said anything, proof that Beca’s mind had been advising her on what to do and not the Australian. But to her regret, it seemed Amy <em>had</em> said it.</p><p>“You should tell Chloe how you feel. While you still have time.” Fat Amy said seriously, and Beca rolled her eyes.</p><p>“Who said I even <em>feel</em> anything for her?”</p><p>“No one.” Amy replied, “And that’s how I know. Because at no point have you denied that you feel something for Chloe.”</p><p>Beca bit the inside of her cheek while she considered whether or not to admit defeat. At least the woman was having this conversation with her in private.</p><p>“What better time to tell her than now?” Amy continued, “While you guys are trapped in quarantine together?”</p><p>“With the rest of you guys.” Beca muttered in a disappointed tone.</p><p>“We’d give you some space?”</p><p>Beca’s eyes squeezed closed, as though doing so would make everything sound a little less…<em>dramatic </em>while she spoke. Though as she did her hands moved a fair bit which counteracted any down-play of how stressed she was feeling about the situation.</p><p>“And what if she freaks and says she doesn’t feel the same way? Then we’d be trapped in quarantine trying to avoid each other and it-it-it would be the <em>worst</em>. The <em>absolute</em> worst.”</p><p>The room fell silent and Beca slowly opened her eyes with a sigh. Her chest didn’t feel as tight any more, and she wondered for a moment if speaking her inner thoughts to someone - even just a tiny bit - had actually been <em>good</em> for her. Her brow furrowed as she stared up at the ceiling and realised a dim light was now shining from the bed nearby. She turned to see where the source of the light was. And she saw it belonged to Amy’s phone, the Australian seemingly texting someone.</p><p>“Amy, have you even been listening??” Beca hissed, not entirely sure why she would be annoyed if Amy hadn’t. It would solve a few problems for Beca if the blonde had turned her attention elsewhere. She watched as the woman looked up from her phone screen and over at Beca, raising her eyebrows innocently:</p><p>“Yeah.” Fat Amy replied, shrugging before adding simply, “You’re in love with Chloe.”</p><p>“I-I…” Beca stuttered, pausing for a moment to let out a huff of air through her nose while rolling her eyes, then resuming her focus on her friend, “…it’s not <em>love-”</em></p><p>“-then what is it?” Amy asked grinning while Beca flopped back down onto the couch cushions with a wince.</p><p>“It…It’s…I haven’t worked it out yet.” Beca attempted to explain, playing with her long brown hair between her fingers. Her stomach felt a bit knotted while her heart raced. God she felt sick. And nervous. But amongst it all she also felt a slight glimmer of relief.</p><p>“Well you’ve got plenty of time to figure it out, Beca.” Amy replied in a distracted tone, and Beca let out a heavy sigh, turning as best as possible onto her side, her back to the nearby bed.</p><p>Great, yeah. Plenty of time. But what would happen when she finally <em>did</em> work it out? Could she bring herself to actually <em>tell</em> Chloe? And if she did was there any chance Chloe might feel the same way in return? Part of Beca hopes that Chloe does and will. And it’s that final thought that has her drifting off to sleep.</p><p>———</p><h2>‘Project Bhloe WhatsApp Group’</h2><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Newsflash!!</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Beca’s in love with Chloe!</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: This is not a drill!</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Whaaaat?! 😍</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Seriously??</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Yep she literally just told me just now</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Amaaaaazing 😍</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Lets spend the next few weeks putting them in situations where they have to pair-up and/or be together 😍</p><p><b>Emily</b>: YAAAAAAAAAS!!!!!</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Definitely!!</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Where IS everyone??</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Amy, we’re the only two talking</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Probably asleep..</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: It IS 1am…</p><p><b>Emily</b>: True</p><p><b>Emily</b>: see you in the morning xxx</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: 👍</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Project Bhloe back in action after 2 and a half years 😎</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: I feel alive again!</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chloe woke slowly, letting out a heavy sleepy sigh and bringing her palms to her eyes before rolling onto her side and her face smushing into her pillow. She felt hungover. Which was pretty impossible because all the alcohol had worn off by the time she’d gone to bed last night. But she put her heavy head down to the fact that she’d been up for much of the night thinking about Beca.</p><p>She’d hopped from one social media platform to another, glancing at Beca’s, then getting lost in the abyss of photos that Beca had been tagged in over the years. It was no wonder Chloe had woken with a start, having had a nightmare where she’d Beca out while they remained in quarantine together, only for Beca to say no and laugh at her for even suggesting something so absurd. She’d been thinking and dreaming about Beca so much it was a wonder the woman wasn’t a part of her very being now.</p><p>“Yeah, I feel the same.” came a groggy sleepy tone, and Chloe moved her face a little to look across the room and see Emily with her hands behind her head, blinking slowly up at the ceiling. There was no way the brunette was feeling <em>exactly</em> the same as Chloe in terms of Beca. But it was highly likely she had a hungover feeling - Emily having never been the best with alcohol.</p><p>“Shall we go get breakfast?” Chloe suggested in a voice that made her words sound more like grunts.</p><p>“Yeah.” Emily said while let out a heavy sleepy sigh, her arms flopping down to her sides, then she let out a groan while slowly clambering out of her bed.</p><p>Chloe did the same, and almost identical groan leaving her own mouth. Might as well get the start to today over with. The sooner she saw Beca to sooner she could build up some confidence around her. The sooner she could try to work out if Beca really did have a crush on her. The sooner she could perhaps act on it.</p><p>———</p><p>Beca stared at her phone screen, scrolling absently through her social media feeds. She’d been surprised to wake up to a notification that revealed that at 4am <em>Chloe</em> had liked an old photo of her from like two years ago. How far into her Instagram had Chloe gone? And <em>why</em>?? <em>And</em> so early in the morning. Had Chloe even gone to sleep? Or was that the crazy time she was used to waking up?</p><p>So many questions had filled Beca’s head the second she’d seen that notification. So much so that Beca herself had begun scrolling through Chloe’s Instagram, freaking every now and then when she accidentally liked a photo before quickly removing the like. The last thing she wanted was to let Chloe know that she’d been snooping into the depths of her Instagram profile.</p><p>Beca saw a notification suddenly swing down from the top of her screen:</p><p></p><blockquote class="npf_indented">
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      <em>Bellas 4 Life - Flo: Breakfast in 5 minutes!</em>
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</blockquote><p>Maybe there was some perk of sharing her house with The Bellas. Flo, Ashley, and Fat Amy (of all people) were renowned for their amazing cooking. And Chloe. Chloe’s cooking was Beca’s favourite.</p><p>Beca’s stomach scrambled at the thought of seeing Chloe again. Scrambled with excitement perhaps. And nerves. Definitely with some nerves. She hadn’t seen a ‘first thing in the morning Chloe’ since they’d had to share a bed together in Brooklyn post-graduation. It was one of her favourite times to see Chloe. All natural beauty and rough around the edges. That sleepy smile…</p><p>Beca wasn’t entirely sure when she’d scrambled out of the makeshift bed on her floor or had left her bedroom but by the time she’d brought her mind back to reality she found herself slowly shuffling through to the main living area of her house. There she saw a gaggle of her friends, all sat around the large dining table, chatting away together.</p><p>For the first time in a very long time, Beca felt her heart warm at the sight. Her <em>family</em>.</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe looked up to see Beca approaching the dining table, her hair up in a messy bun. Tiny strands of her brown wirey hair stuck out by her ears. And Chloe couldn’t help the soft sigh of content escape her as she thought back on how much Beca hated her own morning hair. But Chloe loved it. And she’d missed the sight of it. Beca looked <em>beautiful</em>.</p><p>———</p><p>Beca cleared her throat awkwardly, realising the only available seat was beside Chloe. With an intake of breath through her nose, she made her way around the table to the only free seat. The girls all greeted her with hearty “Morning!!”’s, to which Beca smiled weakly, putting on a face she’d always worn in the mornings back in Barden. Her ‘God it’s too early in the morning to be this cheerful guys!’ face, which had always made her friends giggle and chuckle. It still worked.</p><p>Beca slipped into the chair, the outer side of her left thigh pressing against the outer side of Chloe’s right, and she felt a lump form in her throat. The girls around her all chatted merrily amongst themselves. But Beca and Chloe looked to one another, neither noticing that the other’s cheeks had flushed red, such was their embarrassment at their close proximity.</p><p>Unbeknownst to Beca, Chloe had been given no choice but to take the seat she was sat in. And unbeknownst the Chloe, the rest of The Bellas had planned to force Beca and Chloe into the only two remaining seats - purposefully close together - by all taking the main seats around the table before Chloe arrived for breakfast.</p><p>Beca cleared her throat awkwardly, glancing down at the well laid table, then reached for a nearby glass of orange juice. When she looked back at Chloe her mouth went dry. The woman had been looking at her but quickly looked down at her placemat. God, Beca had missed her sleepy appearance.</p><p>“Uh, how did you sleep?” Beca asked, almost choking on each word, having always hated small talk no matter who it was she was having small talk with. Chloe looked at her with a soft smile.</p><p>“Yeah okay thanks. The bed was comfy.”</p><p>“Good.” Beca nodded gently then pulled her lips into her mouth, biting down slightly before releasing them. She didn’t want to have to admit to Chloe that the woman had actually been presented with one of the least desirable sleeping arrangement in the house. The bed the redhead had slept on was the firmest by far. And the time that Beca had tried it out she’d suspected a spring was going midway down the left side..</p><p>“How was your bed?” Chloe asked, her voice echoing slightly into her glass before she took a sip of orange juice, then added as she placed her glass down again, “Amy mentioned you’d chosen to sleep on couch cushions?”</p><p>Beca smiled, a little embarrassed by the way Chloe’s brow furrowed while looking somewhat bemused by the notion. Ah, perhaps it had actually been <em>Beca</em> who had had the least desirable sleeping arrangement.</p><p>“Ah, yeah.” she replied, forcing a slight chuckle from her nose while glancing down at her hands that were knitted at her fingers on the surface of the table, “You remember how much Amy sprawled.”</p><p>“In that case,” Chloe said, nudging Beca with her elbow, and the brunette looked up just in time to catch Chloe wink at her with a grin while adding, “wise choice.”</p><p>“Thanks.” Beca croaked. She was trying desperately to play it cool. But her palms were becoming clammy and her knuckles were aching because she was clenching her hands together so tightly. She’d only just realised that her thigh was smushed firmly against Chloe’s, which caused her heart rate to increase. And all the while her eyes found their way from Chloe’s bright blue eyes down to her perfect lips and back up again. As though Beca had become entranced by the redhead’s natural beauty that she’d missed so much-</p><p>—</p><p>“Hey Beca, thanks for the rose petals on the bed.”</p><p>The sentence was spoken in a teasing tone, snapping Chloe from the moment she seemed to be sharing with Beca, and she turned to see the owner of the sentence grinning over at them. Aubrey seemed thrilled about the special treatment Beca had given the guest bedroom that she, Stacie and Bella were sharing.</p><p>“Yeah, a big surprise.” Stacie agreed with a grin.</p><p>Chloe couldn’t help but feel a little <em>jealous</em>. Why had they got petals and she hadn’t?? Perhaps Beca didn’t feel as much for her as she’d assumed. Perhaps Beca <em>didn’t</em> have a crush on her after all. Clearly she was someone that Beca didn’t regard as ‘rose petal’ worthy… Chloe felt a little upset.</p><p>———</p><p>Beca was panicking. Shit, what could she say?? The truth? That she’d actually intended on <em>Chloe</em> having that bedroom and that bed? No. No way. Better to say that she’d intended on doing it on all the beds but that they’d arrived too soon for her to do so. <em>Ooh</em> or better yet, feign complete ignorance. Yes. That was a far better excuse.</p><p>“I didn’t get rose petals on my bed.” Fat Amy quickly blurted, and Beca joined the rest of The Bellas in turning to look at the Australian who sat at the head of the table with plenty of elbow room, directly opposite Beca and Chloe.</p><p>“I wasn’t exactly gonna put petals on my own bed, Amy.” Beca replied, surprising herself with how quick her response was to Amy’s complaint. If anything it helped Beca cloak the real reason why she’d put petals on a bed in the first place.</p><p>“Oh yeah.” Amy said. But just as she was about to open her mouth to delve further, Flo swept through to the dining area with a large platter of breakfast food.</p><p>As the women surged towards the food, placing it politely onto their plates, Beca found the opportunity to continue her close encounter with Chloe.</p><p>“Dare I ask why Aubrey looks sweaty already?” she mumbled with a smirk on her face, having leant her mouth towards Chloe’s ear in order to keep her question from Aubrey attention. She enjoyed the sound of Chloe’s chuckle while the redhead kept her eyes on the slices of melon she was busy trying to transfer onto her plate.</p><p>“She and Stacie were woken early by Bella,” Chloe began to explain in a quiet voice, leaning her shoulder into Beca to try to maintain their ‘secret’ conversation in full view of The Bellas, “so they decided to take her out in the yard for a yoga session.”</p><p>“Oh God.” Beca muttered, still smirking as she began sliding eggs onto her own plate to join the homemade bagel already laying there, “Poor Bella.”</p><p>Another chuckle escaped Chloe’s mouth and Beca found it near impossible to look away from the redhead’s beauty. There was something so wonderful about the way Chloe looked right now, and Beca couldn’t put her finger on what exactly it was.</p><p>“Actually,” Chloe quietly replied, “from the sound of things Bella actually enjoyed it.”</p><p>Even Beca found herself chuckling at that, but she wasn’t entirely sure why. Perhaps it was just the giddiness she felt being with her best friend again. Being this close to Chloe while harbouring feelings for her had Beca feeling…excited. <em>Happy</em>. <em>Content</em>.</p><p>“Oi.” came a voice cutting through the cross-conversations from the other side of the table, and both Beca and Chloe looked away from one another to see Amy looking at them both serious, “When you two lovebirds have stopped flirting, could you pass me the eggs?”</p><p>Beca and Chloe both swallowed loudly, clearing their throats awkwardly. Then Beca passed out the eggs, rolling her eyes when Amy made a ‘kissy’ sound with her lips. Sure, like Amy <em>wouldn’t</em> tease her about Chloe now she knew she might feel something for the redhead..</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Right, now we’ve warmed up, find a partner!”</p><p>Aubrey’s over-enthusiastic voice rang out across the grassy back yard, and nine Bellas gasped for breath, gripping their sides while wincing at the blonde who was stood before them. She looked as though she’d barely released a drop of sweat.</p><p>“That…was-the…warm-up?!” Cynthia Rose burst, doubled over with her hands on her knees.</p><p>“Uhuh!” Aubrey replied firmly, her eyebrows raised as though it really shouldn’t be a problem.</p><p>Fat Amy laid flat on the ground, her face in the grass while she groaned in agony, “I haaate cardiooooo.” and the other exhausted Bellas nodded in agreement.</p><p>“Partners!” was all Aubrey strictly said, her hands on her hips while rocking slowly from side to side. The women before her hung their heads back or forward, then arranged themselves into pairs.</p><p>Beca looked at her friends, surprised to see them all automatically pair up like some sort of synchronised movement. And her eyes finally landed on the one person who appeared to not have someone to pair up with at all. Chloe. She slowly wandered over to the redhead, her hands picking awkwardly at her cuticles while she arrived before her crush, smiling gently.</p><p>“Guess I’m your partner then.” she mumbled, and saw Chloe’s smile twitch in one corner.</p><p>“I guess you are.”</p><p>Beca moved to stand next to the redhead, her arms crossed firmly across her abdomen while she resumed her attention on Aubrey at the front of the group. If anything she was focussing harder on Aubrey than was required because she was busy trying ignore the surge of nerves that were rushing around her body at that moment in time. She desperately wanted to turn and look at Chloe. To take the opportunity to appreciate the sight of her in person after so long apart. But that just wasn’t Beca’s jam.</p><p>“Right, now that we all have a partner,” Aubrey said clearly, “Stacie is going to go through some Ultimate Frisbee throws that can be done between two people.”</p><p>The Bellas’ brows all furrowed as they watched Stacie stride confidently to the front to stand beside Aubrey, a disc in her hand. Amy’s hand quickly shot into the air and Aubrey acknowledged it with a nod.</p><p>“Question.” the Australian began, her arm dropping to her side, “Since when did Stacie become an expert in Frisbee?”</p><p>Aubrey rocked back and forth awkwardly on her feet, her hands joining together at the small of her back. But Stacie chuckled, beaming proudly while confidently answering:</p><p>“Since I slept with the entire Ultimate Frisbee team back at Barden.”</p><p>Amy raised her eyebrows, impressed. As did Cynthia Rose who was clearly aware that this information meant Stacie had slept with guys and girls alike - Ultimate being a mixed team. Jessica and Ashley glanced awkwardly over at Stacie’s three year old and were relieved to see Bella completely oblivious, sat on a giant beanbag nearby with headphones on, watching something on her iPad. The rest of the Bellas smirked. Trust Stacie and her promiscuous ways back in college.</p><p>“<em>No idea how that helped her play frisbee.</em>” Beca mumbled to Chloe, causing the redhead to chuckle quietly and shrug. Something that hadn’t passed Aubrey by.</p><p>“Hey, Beca. Eyes to the front. No talking.”</p><p>Beca let out a sigh, her eyes rolling to the sky as she turned her body fully to face the front. She missed the way Chloe watched her adoringly. And they <em>both</em> missed the way their friends watched them together.</p><p>———</p><p>An hour later and Beca had to admit, she was pretty impressed. Not because Stacie had actually managed to run a fairly successful ‘Frisbee Hour’ (in which most Bellas were now able to throw a disc further than a few feet), but because they’d actually collectively only lost over the outer wall of Beca’s home six out of the six<em>teen</em> discs that Stacie had brought along with her. And <em>Amy</em> had actually lost four of those six so…</p><p>“Right, pick which of you is ‘A’ and which of you is ‘B’.” Aubrey instructed. The Bellas were too tired to ask why.</p><p>“Wanna go by age?” Beca asked, miraculously in better shape than expected, so spoke with relative ease, “You be ‘A’ as you’re slightly older?”</p><p>Chloe smiled, her brow furrowing as she geared up to tease Beca, her hands still gripping her side to try to ease a stitch, “So…you’re not suggesting the letter assignment based on the first letter of your name? B for Beca?” she tried to hide a giddy giggle that was threatening to leave her mouth as Beca’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment, “Or does your name begin with a silent ‘A’ and I’ve been spelling it wrong all these years?”</p><p>A grin spread across Beca’s face and her heart danced at the current situation she was sharing with her crush. She’d missed this. Her eyebrows rose, and she tilted her head up slightly, glancing down her nose at the redhead who had now stood upright with her hands on her own hips to mirror Beca’s stance.</p><p>“Oh did I not tell you?” Beca said sarcastically, “Yeah my name is <em>actually</em> spelt ‘A-B-E-C-A’. Silent ‘A’.”</p><p>A giggle rippled from Chloe’s mouth while she beamed at Beca, her body feeling tingly with excitement. She’d missed this. She’d missed the sarcasm and their shared sense of humour.</p><p>“Awkward.” she replied and Beca chuckled, mocking an awkward expression, her mouth revealing her bottom teeth while she nodded in agreement. They both swayed from side to side on the spot, their hands resting on their own hips while they looked at one another, chuckling.</p><p>“We’re now going to do a cool-down.” Aubrey announced from the front of the group, pacing from left to right.</p><p>“Why do we need letters for a cool-down?” Emily asked with her hand still raised in the air, and Aubrey stopped with a smile.</p><p>“You’ll see.”</p><p>———</p><p>Beca couldn’t look Chloe in the eye. Which was difficult given the current position they were in. Chloe was laid flat on her back on the grass, one leg raised, bent with her knee tucked into her chest. And Beca - poor poor Beca - was crouched before her, Chloe’s higher foot in her left hand, Chloe’s knee nestled into her left armpit, and her right hand pressed into the soft grass beside Chloe’s abdomen to keep balance.</p><p>“Push harder Beca!” Aubrey called over seriously, and Beca let out a huff of air from her nose, puffing back a loose lock of hair that was dangling over her face. She was grumpy. Not grumpy because she was with Chloe. But grumpy because this was a super awkward position to be in given how she felt about the redhead.</p><p>“Why me?!” Beca bellowed, trying to look over her shoulder at Aubrey but struggled, “Why haven’t you asked Amy, or Ashley, or <em>Lilly</em> to push harder??”</p><p>“Because Amy would crush Emily-” Aubrey began (to which Amy mumbled ’, “She’s right. I probably would.”)</p><p>“Ashley is assisting Jessica’s stretch perfectly so doesn’t need the advice.” Beca rolled her eyes as Jessica and Ashley somehow high fived.</p><p>She turned her face towards Chloe’s body beneath her, just as Aubrey finished in a slightly unnerved tone, “And…well Lilly’s managed to contort her body into the shape of a pretzel or something so she really doesn’t need any sort of encouragement.” (True enough, Lilly grinned while sat on her own with her limbs twisted in a bizarre way.)</p><p>“<em>God this is the worst</em>.” Beca muttered under her breath, and for some reason her eyes found their way to Chloe’s chest, then slowly up to Chloe’s face while the redhead stared up at the sky, clearly also trying to avoid eye contact. She noted the way an amused smirk suddenly appeared on Chloe’s face.</p><p>“What, this <em>wasn’t</em> how you’d envisioned isolation with The Bellas?”</p><p>“What wasn’t?” Beca asked, reluctantly continuing to push her body weight against Chloe to increase the strength of the stretch.</p><p>“You. On top of me. Both of us sweaty.”</p><p>Chloe couldn’t help the chuckle that fell out of her mouth as she looked down from the sky to see Beca’s face flush pink in embarrassment. Teasing Beca was fun. Especially as Chloe continued to suspect that the brunette had a crush on her. It would be interesting to see if Beca chose to counteract the teasing with a flirtatious comeback or whether the woman would retreat to her usual awkward bashful self when the topic of sex came up in conversation.</p><p>Beca’s throat had gone dry and she attempted to clear it as Aubrey’s voice rang out, instructing everyone to switch positions with their respective partners. The motion of leaning apart gave Beca time and space to revisit what Chloe has said, and as she herself laid back flat on the grass, she began to think up a suitable reply. Chloe towered over her, one hand on Beca’s foot with Beca’s leg bent at the knee, the knee nestling into Chloe’s armpit. And the two best friends looked into each other’s eyes, trying hard not to pay attention to the awkward position they were in.</p><p>“This is more like how I envisioned isolation with you.” Beca quirked, grinning at the sight of Chloe becoming flustered.</p><p>“H-How?” Chloe asked, swallowing loudly, and Beca simply shrugged (as best as she could), trying to act casual despite the rate that her heart was racing at.</p><p>“You. On top of me. Both of us sweaty.”</p><p>“Aaand release!” Aubrey instructed loudly. The Bellas all moved out of the stretching positions they were in. Beca and Chloe were both frozen for a moment, staring into each other’s eyes, trying to work out what the other meant by what they’d said. But they soon parted, rising to their feet and dusting themselves down, clearing their throats awkwardly.</p><p>They were so confused and nervous that they missed the way their friends all watched them with huge grins on their faces.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Beca’s nose was practically pressed against the page of the book she was reading, gripping it within her hands so that her knuckles were turning white. She’d never been much of a book reader, but this series had got her hooked. Why hadn’t she read them sooner?</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>Beca jumped at the sound of the breezy voice and she looked up in time to see Chloe leaping onto the free part of the couch that Beca was sat on. The two women smiled at each other, Beca sitting up, resting the book on her lap. This was a sacred time of day according to Aubrey’s ‘House Schedule’ - free time of which The Bellas could do whatever they wanted to. Which had meant the perfect opportunity for Beca to get stuck into more of her book with few interruptions. Not that she minded this particular interruption.</p><p>“Do my eyes deceive me?” Chloe asked as her eyes widened in delight at the sight of the book on Beca’s lap. “Harry Potter? Seriously??”</p><p>Beca rolled her eyes with a grin, looking down at the cover, “Yeah well you know how I hate jumping on bandwagons when they’re an actual thing.”</p><p>“So you waited twenty years to finally read it??” Chloe asked rhetorically, poking the book with her index finger, “And, might I add, the best one.”</p><p>Beca furrowed her brow. She thought the third book - <em>the</em> <em>Prisoner of Azkaban</em> - had been the best so far. If anything she’d struggled with this one as much as she’d struggled to get through <em>the Goblet of Fire</em>. And <em>the Order of the Phoenix</em>..</p><p>“You’re only a third of the way through.” Chloe explained, with a wave of her hand and a shake of her head, “Trust me.”</p><p>“What makes it so great?” Beca asked curiously, unknowingly picking at the book cover with her fingernail while enjoying the way Chloe moved her entire body to face her on the couch.</p><p>“This is the book where everyone starts falling <em>in love</em>.” Chloe gushed passionately, “They might only have crushes but crushes between close friends are kinda bittersweet, right?”</p><p>There was a pause as Beca let Chloe’s words sink in. The brunette nodded slowly, a coy smile spreading on her face while Chloe continued softly:</p><p>“Bitter because of the agony of not being together with them in the way you truly want to but…sweet because you still get to be with them and enjoy how amazing they are.”</p><p>“Sounds like you’re talking from experience.” Beca replied, nudging Chloe’s leg playfully with her toes.</p><p>Chloe tugged her bottom lip between her teeth, watching Beca carefully. Her heart was racing. She was on the verge of telling the woman exactly how she felt about her. But there was still this tiny hint of uncertainty in the back of Chloe’s mind. What if she was imagining things?? What if Beca <em>didn’t</em> have a crush on her like she suspected? What if Beca was just being nice because she’d missed Chloe or something?</p><p>Clearly Chloe took too long to answer, because Beca cleared her throat loudly, shifting her position on the couch while taking a deep breath.</p><p>“So um…who did you end up leaving behind at Davis to come here?”</p><p>“Hmm?” Chloe’s eyebrows rose, her face opening up as though inviting Beca to come closer. To question her further.</p><p>“Well there must’ve been some guy fawning after you up there.”</p><p>“No.” Chloe replied, letting out a chuckle, “No I…” she paused to look down at her hands, running her fingertips across the lines of her palms, “…I’m still hung up on someone.” she admitted quietly.</p><p>Beca felt her stomach churn with jealousy. She could imagine exactly who that ‘<em>someone</em>’ was.</p><p>“Chicago?”</p><p>“<em>No</em>.” Chloe was quick to reply, scrunching her face up.</p><p>“Someone before or after him?” Beca continued to investigate, trying to work out a plausible timeline of which she could try to pinpoint who Chloe was talking about.</p><p>But Chloe was becoming a little defensive about the interrogation, having always been a little sensitive about the embarrassing romance she’d had on the USO tour a couple of years ago:</p><p>“Since when did he become such a pivotal person in my romantic history to be comparing others to?” she snapped, and Beca raised her hands slightly in defence, surprised by Chloe’s reaction.</p><p>“You liked him.”</p><p>“Yeah for like a <em>month</em>.”</p><p>“Still…” Beca maintained a calm tone as she tried to get her head around how this was suddenly turning heated. Clearly Chicago wasn’t a topic Chloe liked to talk about any more, “…he’s the only guy I’ve known you properly date over the past eight years that we’ve known each other.”</p><p>There was a pause as Beca looked at Chloe cautiously and she could almost see the stress seep from the redhead’s body. Chloe’s shoulders relaxed, and she watched as the woman shrugged.</p><p>“Maybe I’ve been holding out.” Chloe revealed in a quiet way.</p><p>“For a guy?”</p><p>“For a girl.”</p><p>“Oh.” Beca swallowed loudly. She’d suspected it. But to hear Chloe say it so clearly and honestly erased that suspicion. Chloe had a crush on a girl, “Do I know her?”</p><p>Chloe let out a gentle, almost inaudible sigh, and a soft smile swept onto her face, “Better than anyone.”</p><p>Chloe stared intently into Beca’s eyes, silently pleading with her to put the pieces together. To work out that <em>she</em> was the one Chloe was talking about.</p><p>And Beca had an inkling that she <em>was</em> the person Chloe was referring to. But until Chloe told her for sure, in the exact words, Beca didn’t want to risk their friendship by putting herself out there and declaring her love for the redhead (or whatever she was feeling) only for Chloe to politely throw it back in her face. Resulting in an inevitably horrendous following few days, weeks, hell even <em>months</em> of living together in isolation with the rest of The Bellas but being unable to look each other in the eye.</p><p>Just the thought had Beca’s chest tightening in anxiety. And to her horror she realised she was beginning to sweat. Her palms were clammy while she feared a bead of sweat was forming on her left temple.</p><p>“A-Are you okay?” Chloe asked, her brow knitting together in concern, “You’ve gone really pale.”</p><p>“Yeah uh…” Beca began, scrambling off the couch, suddenly becoming light headed. Oh god, was she about to have a panic attack? “…I just remembered, I left something in my room.”</p><p>Beca began to stagger quickly away from Chloe, her hand reaching out to smooth along the wall as she moved, trying to maintain her balance while she headed for her bedroom. Her heart pounded and her chest remained tight.</p><p>Chloe watched in concern as the brunette stumbled out of sight. Her focus turned to the discarded Harry Potter book, now page-down on the couch where Beca had once been sat. What had that all been about? Did Beca realise she’d been talking about <em>her</em>? Was that why she’d left just now? Could she not bear to hear the truth coming from Chloe’s mouth?</p><p>The woman let out a shaky sigh and ran her fingers through her hair as her mind remained on Beca.</p><p>Beca, meanwhile, tumbled into her bedroom and slammed the door hard behind her, leaning back on it while trying to steady her fast breathing.</p><p>“<em>Kudos to you for the over-reaction, Mitchell</em>.” she muttered to herself, pushing her body off the wooden door and slowly shuffling over to her large bed, desperately needing to lie on it for a few minutes to calm down. She collapsed onto the soft bedding with a heavy sigh, and stared up at the ceiling.</p><p>What the hell was wrong with her? Did she really have to panic so much? Could she not have just laughed or even teased Chloe when the redhead had been giving her that information about her crush? Could she not have half-heartedly asked if Chloe was talking about her? No. She had to go and freak about it and run away. Smooth, Mitchell. Really smooth.</p><p>“Auntie Beca?”</p><p>Beca let out a yelp, sitting bolt upright all of a sudden as little Bella Conrad peered at her from the edge of the other side of the bed. The three year old smiled cautiously, knowing but not <em>really</em> knowing the woman.</p><p>“Oh uh, hey little dude.” Beca said, raising a hand briefly as a greeting, then she furrowed her brow, “What’re you doing in here? Over there.”</p><p>“My hiding.” Bella explained, and Beca had to admit that helped make sense why the child’s body was mostly hidden behind the bed and only her head and hands could be seen. “Mama and Auntie Aubrey playing hide an’ seek with me. My hiding. They finding.”</p><p>“Ah.” Beca replied, nodding slowly. There was a brief pause, and the woman took her time to process how ideal hiding would be right now, “Can I join you?”</p><p>She watched in mild amusement as the three year old’s face lit up, Bella nodding enthusiastically while beaming up at her. Beca slowly made her way around the bed and settled on the floor beside the little girl.</p><p>“You hidin’ from Mama an’ Auntie Aubrey too?” Bella asked, staring at Beca with her big green eyes.</p><p>“Uh, not really, no.” Beca replied, wondering how much of the truth Bella would take in. She quickly decided it was unlikely the three year old would remember many specifics, if anything about this time together at all, “I’m actually hiding from Auntie Chloe.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>Beca hesitated. Bella wouldn’t remember what she’d say. So with that in mind, she carried on:</p><p>“Because I like her.”</p><p>“I like her too.” Bella quickly replied with a smile.</p><p>“No uh…” Beca scrunched her nose up, trying to find a simpler way of explaining what she meant so that the three year old could respond appropriately, “…I mean I like her like…like I want to be her girlfriend.”</p><p>“Her girlfriend?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>Bella looked curious, as though a million questions were speeding through her brain at once. But the most obvious came first:</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“Beeecaaause…” Beca began while thinking of the right words to describe how she was feeling about Chloe, “…I want to spend all my time with her. And I spend most of my time thinking about her.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“…Because I think she’s pretty?”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>Beca was beginning to get a little exasperated by the same response, and her hands flapped while she spoke.</p><p>“Because I think I’m in love with her and when you’re in love with someone you think they’re pretty, okay?”</p><p>Beca’s heart skipped a beat when she realised what she’d just said out loud for the first time ever. She was <em>in love</em> with Chloe. In love! Her gaze drifted from the sight of the little girl, across the room somewhere while she attempted to address this revelation.</p><p>“That mean you wanna kiss her?” Bella’s little voice piped up.</p><p>Beca swiped her tongue briefly across her lips and let out a shaky sigh. God she’d had millions of daydreams about what it might be like to kiss Chloe. <em>Millions</em>. Every scenario had been perfection. But to do it in real life? There was something a bit daunting about that. She turned to look at Bella with a soft smile, but because she’d taken a little too long to answer the three year old’s question, Bella was quick to fill the silence.</p><p>“Mama an’ Auntie Aubrey kiss.”</p><p>Beca’s eyes widened, her mouth dropping open in shock, “Wait, w-<em>what</em>? They kiss??”</p><p>“Sometimes.” Bella confirmed with a shrug, before letting out a short sharp gasp. The little girl ducked down further behind the bed, even though she was plenty hidden, and she grabbed a bit of Beca’s shirt to encourage her to do the same. Which Beca obliged to do because the moment Bella had gasped had been the moment the bedroom door had opened, and Stacie had loudly said “I wonder if Bella is hiding in <em>here</em>?”</p><p>Beca’s brow was furrowed as she tried to work out what the hell Bella had meant. The kid was three. Did she even know what a kiss was?</p><p>“Gotcha!”</p><p>Bella let out a huge scream of delight, followed by a rippling giggle, and Beca looked up to see Stacie and Aubrey stood at the foot of the bed, smiling at Bella’s reaction while looking a little confused by Beca’s presence.</p><p>“I hadn’t put you down as someone who played hide and seek.” Aubrey quipped with a curious smile, her arms folded while she watched Beca scramble to her feet. Bella, meanwhile, had launched herself into her mother’s arms. Beca grunted in response, adding an eye roll in for good effect.</p><p>“<em>I hadn’t put you down as a lesbian but it looks like isolating all together will be full of surprises.</em>” is what Beca could’ve said. But unfortunately she only thought of that clever comeback several minutes later, when she’d headed through to the kitchen to make a coffee, and had found her Harry Potter book closed on the kitchen counter. No Chloe to be seen.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Okay. I think I’ve got it.” Chloe said as she stood confidently, hands on her hips with a smile on her face. It had been a nice hour out in the LA sunshine, and most of The Bellas had been in the back yard - some in the pool, some just chilling in the sun. </p><p>Chloe had joined Flo, Emily, and Stacie in trying to hold a handstand unaided. Beca was sat with her legs crossed, nursing a large mug of coffee while tucked under a parasol. Amy was busy trying to create the largest cannonball’s off the edge of the pool while Aubrey closely monitored Bella amongst the water. Cynthia Rose sat with Jessica and Ashley, teaching them how to play a card game. And Lilly sat in a nearby tree, adding to the small treehouse she had been busy building throughout the day.</p><p>The redhead took a deep breath, then flipped her body up into a handstand. Flo and Emily caught a leg, keeping her upright, while Stacie stood to the side, mentioning the occasional instruction on how to improve her form and posture which would contribute to a successful solo handstand.</p><p>Beca watched with a gentle smile on her face, trying not to gaze down the length of Chloe’s body - from the soft skin of her abs down to her bikini covered chest, ending at Chloe’s upside down smile while she giggled loudly.</p><p>“<em>God she’s perfection</em>.” Beca muttered to herself in her head, her body feeling fuzzy, such was the rush that appreciating Chloe brought to her. Thankfully Chloe hadn’t seemed to notice her staring.</p><p>Chloe <em>had</em> noticed Beca watching her, however. And it brought more questions to the forefront of her mind rather than answering them. Like why was Beca looking at her in a way that she never looked at the other Bellas? And if Beca <em>did</em> have a crush on her then why wasn’t she being a bit more obvious with her ‘advances’? Chloe had practically told Beca she had a thing for her (without saying so exactly), so was Beca just intimidated by Chloe’s confidence? She never had been before…</p><p>Her eyes met Beca’s for a brief second, and the moment they did Beca snapped her attention down to her book. The redhead’s stomach twisted with curiosity as she watched her best friend pick up the Harry Potter book. Why was the woman getting weird about eye contact all of a sudden? “<em>Unless Beca has a thing for me too? Then her being weird around me would definitely make sense.</em>” Chloe thought to herself as she felt Flo and Emily release her legs.</p><p>Beca looked over at Chloe the moment the redhead let out a squeal of delight, and a smile swept across her face when she saw her best friend successfully performing a solo handstand. “<em>Chloe’s body always has been amazing at things like that</em>.” she mused to herself, thinking back over the years at the times she’d admired Chloe’s strong, fit physique. Her hands brought her book into her lap and she was impressed to find that it almost fell open onto the page Beca had got up to.</p><p>But it hadn’t been a fluke. And Beca looked down to see a post-it note stuck over a Polaroid that was stuffed between the chosen two pages. The words: ‘<b>I didn’t want you to lose your page ;)</b>’ was written on the post-it, and Beca let out a silent chuckle while slipping the post-it off the Polaroid to inspect the picture. It was an old Polaroid that Chloe had taken of the two of them together on a walk around Central Park, back when they’d lived together in New York.</p><p>Chloe moved out of her handstand with a satisfied sigh and stepped aside for Stacie to have another go while Flo and Emily kept watch. The redhead’s gaze naturally drifted over to Beca’s and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the woman smiling down at the Polaroid she’d left in the book for her.</p><p>She saw Beca look over at her, the brunette’s smile broadening as she motioned to the Polaroid then gave her a thumbs up. Chloe tugged her bottom lip between her teeth, giving Beca a thumbs up in return. But their silent, distant communication was short-lived when Stacie was heard letting out a yelp, and all eyes turned to see the leggy woman falling onto Flo and Emily..</p><p>———</p><p>“…so those who were ‘A’ during frisbee this morning swim over to this side here!” Aubrey directed clearly, swinging out her left arm to motion to a side of the outdoor pool, “Those who were ‘B’ over to the other side!”</p><p>Beca stood on the edge of the pool, teetering with her toes curled over the edge, her arms folded across her bare waist. She’d never been the most confident swimsuit wearer. But being with The Bellas helped her body confidence when wearing a bikini.</p><p>“Get that cute butt in the water.” she heard someone mumble into her ear, and she grinned while her gaze turned to and followed the figure of Chloe wandering past and away from her, over to the ‘A’ side of the pool.</p><p>“Come ooooon Beca!!” the rest of the ‘B’ team called out near to where Beca was stood and she took one look at them before holding her breath and leaping into the pool.</p><p>“Right so, whoever you were paired with this morning you are now marking.” Aubrey explained in a military-like fashion, her arms behind her back while she slowly paced up the length of the poolside, “They are your enemy.”</p><p>Beca caught Chloe’s eyes and matched the redhead’s grin.</p><p>“Do <em>not</em> let them get the ball. If their team does, mark them hard. If you have the ball, pass it between your teammates as quick as possible, trying to get it between the ‘goal’ markers here.” Aubrey paused to motion to the two small piles of towels at each end, serving as goal posts. “No punching. No dunking. No drowning.”</p><p>Beca brought her hand out of the water, and pointed to her eyes then over to Chloe in a mock-threatening way. And her heart danced when the woman chuckled before mock-threatening her back in the same way.</p><p>“Ready.” Aubrey began, bringing a whistle near her mouth, “Set.” she held the ball up in one hand, balancing it on her palm, biting her whistle between her teeth.</p><p>The Bellas stood in the water, the hot LA sun radiating down on them. Most were poised, ready to swim as fast as possible to the middle of the pool where the ball would inevitably land. Beca, however, was getting ready to swim over to mark Chloe. Chloe was getting ready to swim over to mark Beca. A surge of competitive adrenaline suddenly ran through them, and the second Aubrey’s whistle pierced the air, the ten women were unleashed.</p><p>The ball landed in the water with a thump on the surface, the noise silenced by the sound of ten women swimming, splashing, and scrambling as quick as possible towards the centre of the pool. It was Flo who reached the ball first, having immediately ducked under water then pushed off the edge of the pool to glide gracefully beneath the surface, avoiding all contact with the rest of The Bellas.</p><p>Beca had a massive grin on her face as she surprisingly expertly lunged for Chloe, leaping onto the redhead’s body for leverage out of the water, and she held a free hand up to call over to Flo above all the noise.</p><p>“Flo!” she cried out, “Fl-” but the name was immediately cut off when Chloe grabbed Beca’s hips with her hands and rolled the brunette into the water. Beca’s hands held onto Chloe’s shoulders while their heads both dipped underwater, and as she joined her best friend in kicking themselves to the surface she couldn’t help a fizz of excitement jolting through her body. Chloe’s hands were still on her bare hips. And Beca loved the feel of it.</p><p>“Stacie!” Beca heard Chloe call out, the woman’s hands leaving her hips to turn and head for the latest Bella with the ball, team ‘A’ now in line to score the first point of the game. Beca threw herself at Chloe once more, this time leaping onto her back, her legs wrapping around her waist just in time for the ball to reach her. Beca thumped it in the opposite direction with her free hand and team ‘B’ took possession once more.</p><p>Beca and Chloe both watched play, their chests heaving they were already out of breath. Chloe’s arms had wrapped around Beca’s legs to keep her steady while Beca wrapped her arms around Chloe’s neck for the same purpose. But despite <em>watching</em> play they in no way noticed that Fat Amy had just landed on Emily and had sunk the poor woman beneath the surface of the pool. Nor had they notice that Lilly was every so often widening the goal that team ‘B’ were aiming for, the woman drifting in the water near to that very goal.</p><p>No, neither woman noticed those details because they were too focussed on the feel of Chloe giving Beca a piggie-back in the pool. Of the feel of the other’s smooth wet skin on their own. On the sound of Beca’s breath as is rasped into Chloe’s ear. On the feel of Chloe’s fingers as they massaged one part of Beca’s leg on each side.</p><p>As team ‘B’ scored their first point, the members of the pool erupted, half cheering half groaning in dismay. The sound of Aubrey’s whistle sounded sharply, the blonde indicating that it <em>had</em> been a fair point scored. And as the teams returned to their respective ends of the pool, Beca <em>thought</em> she felt Chloe place a snap of a wet kiss against her arm (that was still slung around her neck) before the woman released her arms from around Beca’s legs.</p><p>Beca sunk down, away from Chloe’s body, and she watched as the redhead grinned at her, giving her a wink before swimming quickly away to her team’s end of the pool. Beca watched her go, a dopey smile on her face as she thought back on the sensation of Chloe’s quick kiss. Yeah, she’d definitely done it. Right?</p><p>“Hey Shawshank! Hurry up!”</p><p>Beca blinked firmly, then swam to her own end of the pool to join her teammates, that dopey smile still on her face.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chloe curled up on the large circular outdoor chair, a big blanket over her lap while she held two long metal skewers in her left hand, and a bottle of beer in her right. A lazy smile was on her face as she watched the flames of the fire pit before her dancing up towards the sky. Her body felt warm and sunkissed. And she felt more relaxed than she had done in a very long time.</p><p>The first full day of isolation with her favourite women had been perfection. Exactly how college had been except without the crazy hard responsibility of college assignment work, and the complicated commitment of Bellas rehearsals, with an addition of an almost-three year old tottering about the place.</p><p>Much like before, however, there was a sense of the unknown about what their futures might hold. But unlike before, Chloe was enjoying the ‘what if’ that flirting with Beca today had brought. Things felt exciting and new and promising in that department. More than they ever had before.</p><p>Chloe’s eyes drew their way to Beca as the brunette handed out the few bottles of beer she’d nipped to the kitchen to get for those wanting one. Closely followed behind her was Aubrey carrying a tray of chocolate and crackers, and little Bella who held a large bowl of marshmallows. Chloe smoothed the tip of her beer bottle across her lips thoughtfully, watching Beca wander slowly around the fire pit. The brunette didn’t look at her, but simply took a seat on the very chair that Chloe was tucked up on, squishing into the little space that remained to Chloe’s left, flopping some of the large blanket onto her lap. Chloe watched as the woman glanced at her with a soft smile.</p><p>They’d been sat on this chair together for over an hour, and had slowly settled against one another for ease and comfort. None of The Bellas had drawn attention to it. And it’s what made Beca and Chloe feel all the more comfortable together.</p><p>“Marshmallooooooo?”</p><p>The little voice piped up at their legs and both Beca and Chloe jumped a bit, turning from each other to look at Bella who was stood before them holding out her large bowl of marshmallows. Chloe hesitated, her hands full, but she watched as Beca freed her own hands up by placing her own beer bottle down on the floor then proceeded to gently slide two marshmallows onto the skewers Chloe was holding - one on the end of each.</p><p>“Thanks little dude.” Beca said kindly to Bella, and the little girl grinned.</p><p>“Welcome!” she squeaked before moving over to the next couple of Bellas.</p><p>“Want me to…?” Beca asked, not finishing the sentence while motioning to the skewers in Chloe’s hands and Chloe’s eyebrows rose.</p><p>“Oh!” she replied, holding them out to Beca’s open hands, “Yeah. Thanks.”</p><p>She thought she saw Beca glancing down at her lips, but if she had then the woman had stopped in an instant before turning to the fire to gently toast the marshmallows. Chloe swallowed loudly, picking nervously at the label on her beer bottle. God what was happening? Were things really going to happen between them at last?</p><p>Beca’s heart, meanwhile, was racing as she focussed on holding the marshmallows over the flame, watching the surface of them begin to bubble and melt. Her mind however was on the beautiful redhead beside her. What was going on between them? Was isolation and quarantine really going to be the thing to force them together?</p><p>A soft smile swept across her face as she felt Chloe smooth her left hand over her thigh beneath the blanket, her palm resting there with ease while Beca remained leant forward towards the fire. They certainly were feeling more comfortable being like this with each other. Casual glances and the occasional touch. Winks. Nudges. All the flirting. And it wasn’t just the alcohol and sun fuelling this. At least…that’s what Beca hoped.</p><p>“I think they’re melted now.” Chloe mumbled, squeezing Beca’s thigh gently, and the brunette snapped out of her daydream to see that the marshmallows had turned black with burn. <em>Shit</em>.</p><p>“Sorry.” Beca mumbled with a chuckle, holding one skewer to Chloe so she could compile one of two s’mores.</p><p>“Don’t apologise.” Chloe replied in a mischievous tone, “I like things that are a bit of a challenge on the outside but melt on the inside.”</p><p>Beca swallowed loudly at Chloe’s wink that had promptly followed her words. And she felt certain she’d watched the redhead’s gaze flicker down to her lips then back up to her eyes again. Beca felt her stomach flip with desire. God what she wouldn’t give to kiss that girl right now.</p><p>“NOOOOO!” came the cry from the rest of The Bellas, and Beca and Chloe turned to see all of their friends looking at Fat Amy, clearly imploring her not to go through with something she’d said.</p><p>“What?” Amy replied, “I <em>can</em> eat fire!”</p><p>Beca rolled her eyes, settling back into the chair so Chloe could hand her the other s’more. Trust Amy.</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe was frozen to the spot. Like she could barely move a fraction of an inch. Not because she was tied down or had become immobile. But because she feared the tiniest movement might draw Beca’s attention.</p><p>And Beca’s attention would be drawn to the fact that the two of them had been holding hands beneath the blanket for at least forty minutes now. Fingers laced perfectly. Both happily listening in on and contributing to the many conversations that The Bellas were partaking around the fire pit.</p><p>Chloe feared that the moment Beca realised, the brunette would release her hand and become flustered and embarrassed and Chloe desperately didn’t want this intimacy between them to end. She couldn’t work out what was going on. Couldn’t work out why Beca had suddenly become comfortable with this sort of physical contact. As though they were a couple sat with their friends but they weren’t a couple and…</p><p>“Shall we put a movie on?” Emily asked the group, “I’m getting a bit cold.”</p><p>The Bellas were unanimous in their response, all smiling and getting up from their respective seats. Beca didn’t move. If Chloe moved, then she’d move. But if Chloe wanted to remain outside, holding hands, then Beca would gladly stay where she was.</p><p>Chloe watched as each Bella stood. Her hand remained entwined with Beca’s, wondering when the brunette was going to rise to her feet. But when the final Bella - Lilly - was almost at the back door, Chloe decided she better go inside lest The Bellas begin gossiping as to why she and Beca had chosen to stay outside. She didn’t mind about gossip, after all their ‘gossip’ would be truth - she and Beca would’ve stayed outside because something was going on between them. What exactly, Chloe couldn’t be sure. But <em>something</em>. And in order to protect that ‘something’, Chloe thought it best she and Beca not draw their friends’ attention to it.</p><p>Beca’s heart sank as Chloe released her hand and squeezed out of the chair they’d been tightly packed on. So Chloe didn’t want to spend time out here alone with her. Holding hands. Talking about nothing much. Then perhaps approaching the conversation of what was going on between them right now..</p><p>“You coming inside too?” Chloe asked, peering over her shoulder at Beca.</p><p>“Uh, yeah!” Beca replied in an over-bubbly tone, pushing the blanket off her legs and onto the ground. As she rose to her feet, her eyes noticed the way Chloe held her right hand out ever so slightly towards her. And Beca took a deep breath then forced herself to be confident, slowly reaching out and taking Chloe’s offered hand with her left.</p><p>They both looked away from each other, Beca down at her feet, Chloe at the door they were slowly approaching. But both shared a soft smile, squeezing each other’s hands gently.</p><p>———</p><p>“Ten bucks they’re making out already.” Stacie declared, followed by a cackle as she leant over the back of one of the couches to pass out a large bowl of popcorn. Aubrey let out a tut while crouched by the massive TV, trying to figure out how to work it.</p><p>“We’ve only just got inside.” she replied in a distracted tone, “No way would they be making out already.”</p><p>“I dunnooo.” Cynthia Rosie added with a grin, “They seemed pretty cosy this evening.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Emily agreed excitably, “and the sexual tension between those two? Phew!”</p><p>The Bellas all hummed in agreement while gathering drinks and snacks on the low table in front of the TV. Bella, boasting unicorn pyjamas, held a tatty stuffed monkey by the tail while stood on a single armchair, sucking her thumb.</p><p>The women all paused, looking to the door as it creaked open. Both Beca and Chloe stepped inside, letting go of each other’s hands, trying to look as unsuspecting as possible. They didn’t catch anyone’s eye. They just calmly settled on the floor in front of the armchair that Bella was sat on.</p><p>Neither were touching, but there was an invisible vibe surrounding them that The Bellas could all pick up on. Beca and Chloe were crazy for each other. It’s just that neither knew how to brooch the subject. And The Bellas didn’t want to ruin anything by broaching it for them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Amy, are you done in there yet?” Beca asked impatiently, pacing slightly in front of the closed door of her bedroom en-suite.</p><p>It was some time after 1am and The Bellas had all collectively decided to head to their respective bedrooms once their chosen movie had finished. Beca had woken with a start when a handful of popcorn had landed on her face. To her sleepy confusion, she’d come to realise that she’d fallen asleep with her head on Chloe’s shoulder. And that the handful of popcorn had come from Fat Amy and Cynthia Rose who’d grinned at her while Beca rolled her eyes.</p><p>She was now in the unfortunate position of having to wait for Amy to finish whatever business she was up to in their en-suite. And Beca was particularly annoyed because her toothbrush was inside that en-suite too.</p><p>“Gonna be a whiiile!” Amy sang out from behind the door and Beca’s eyes rolled to the ceiling, her hands on her hips.</p><p>“Dude I just need to clean my teeth!” Beca huffed, and she looked down from the ceiling to the door to see it suddenly swing open. She lunged towards her toothbrush that was chucked wildly in her direction, cursing under her breath when she failed to catch it.</p><p>“Gee <em>thanks</em>.” she grumbled sarcastically, scrunching her nose up at the bad smell that had emanated from the en-suite despite the door having opened a fraction for no longer than a second. She stooped down to pick up her toothbrush and grimaced at one of her long hairs that clung to the bristles. Picking it off, she trundled out of her bedroom and down to the main bathroom of her home, hoping one of The Bellas had left a tube of toothpaste lying around somewhere in there.</p><p>“Oh!” came the sharp gasp as Beca reached out to push the bathroom door open just as the door itself pulled open. Beca found herself almost nose-to-nose with Chloe, and she was so shocked her mouth remained hung open. The two women looked at each other, chuckling awkwardly as they stepped from one side to the other, trying to pass in the doorway but accidentally blocking each other instead.</p><p>“I just…”</p><p>“Sorry I’ll…”</p><p>“No it’s okay…”</p><p>“We should just…”</p><p>“Hang on.”</p><p>Beca felt Chloe’s hands on her hips once more, this time the woman spinning her around so that they swapped places - Beca now on the bathroom side of the doorway and Chloe on the hallway side. Again, chuckles fell from their mouths and Beca couldn’t help her gaze falling down to Chloe’s perfect smile.</p><p>What a crazy day it’d been. All the flirting between them? The lingering touches and hand holding? Chloe’s brief kiss on her arm? Beca wasn’t imagining it, right?</p><p>She suddenly blurted, “What’s going on with you and…” then paused as her heart raced against her chest, her palms becoming sweaty with nerves. Fuck, was she about to do it? To ask Chloe what was going on between them. She looked deep into Chloe’s eyes as the redhead looked back at her curiously. Expectantly.</p><p>“…your toothpaste?” Beca finished, surprising even herself with the way she ended that question.</p><p>“My toothpaste?” Chloe checked, looking down at the tube in her hand with a frown before looking back at Beca again. Beca wanted to kick herself.</p><p>“Yeah it just…<em>smells</em>…so good.”</p><p>Smells good? <em>Smells good</em>?? Who the fuck says that about <em>anything</em> conversationally to their crush at gone 1 in the morning?!</p><p>Beca wanted the ground to swallow her up. She wished she had a time turner like Hermione Granger in The Prisoner of Azkaban. At least then she might be able to rethink what kind of way she <em>really</em> wanted to finish that question.</p><p>Her breath hitched in her throat as Chloe took a step closer to her, a flirtatious smile on her face while taking a deep intake of breath through her nose. And in a quiet voice, the redhead replied:</p><p>“If you think it smells good, you should taste it.”</p><p>Beca’s mouth went dry while she bit the inside of her cheek, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. She saw Chloe quirk an eyebrow and her stomach twisted with desire. God this was good. Solid gold flirting from a one Ms Chloe Anne Beale. But could Beca reply with something as equally flirtatious? Or was she doomed to melt into a puddle at Chloe’s feet?</p><p>“Maybe I should.” Beca attempted to reply in an equally flirtatious tone, a grin on her face, her posture now matching the redhead’s. But it didn’t seem to be enough to make Chloe crumble like she’d hoped. And to her confusion she felt a tube of toothpaste being slipped into her free hand.</p><p>“Enjoy.” Chloe mumbled, but her tone and facial expression still exuded a flirtatious nature. Which just left Beca completely confused. Did Chloe like her still?? Like as more than a friend? And if she did then why hadn’t Chloe picked up on her hint of agreeing to taste her toothpaste via a kiss?</p><p>“Goodnight Beca.”</p><p>Beca was left stood in the doorway of the bathroom as Chloe walked backwards away from her with a grin on her face, the redhead then turning on the spot to slowly make her way down the hallway towards the bedroom she was sharing with Emily. Beca’s heart was racing and her arms and hands had begun to shake. Whether it was excitement or nerves or desire or what - Beca wasn’t sure. But what she <em>was</em> sure about was that most interactions with Chloe today had been the best, most flirtatious interactions she’d ever had with anyone before. And she couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow had in store.</p><p>———</p><p>
  <b>
    <strike>Sorry I didn’t say goodnight</strike>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <strike>
    <b>I should’ve told you how I feel about you</b>
  </strike>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <strike>I’ve got a toner for you. There. I said it. Thoughts?</strike>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <strike>
    <b>I meant to say thanks for the toothpaste</b>
  </strike>
</p><p>Beca let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head and deleting the text she was trying to compose to Chloe. She felt bad for having not said goodnight in return when Chloe had said it to her first. She felt bad for not thanking her for the toothpaste. But above all things, she felt bad for not utilising such an ideal moment to tell Chloe how she felt about her.</p><p>
  <b>You were right. The toothpaste DID taste better than the smell x</b>
</p><p>She took a deep breath then pressed ‘send’. The chances were Chloe was now asleep. Sure, the woman had been awake at like 4am yesterday, so her tiredness had probably caught up with her.</p><p>Beca let out a tired sleepy sigh, turned onto her side as best as she possibly could on the uncomfortably couch cushions, and crossed her arms over her stomach. Images of the interaction with Chloe in the doorway to the bathroom an hour ago flashed in her mind and a soft smile spread across her face.</p><p>———</p><p>
  <strike>
    <b>Tastes even better when you try it from a kiss 😜 xx</b>
  </strike>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <strike>Yay! I knew you’d love it! Xx</strike>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <strike>
    <b>Told ya 😘 xx</b>
  </strike>
</p><p>
  <strike>
    <b>Told ya 😘</b>
  </strike>
</p><p>
  <b>Told ya xx</b>
</p><p>Chloe stared at her final response having hated all the previous ones. It was one thing to flirt in person. But this was Beca. Beca who hadn’t called out after her or had pulled her to a stop after Chloe had walked away from the bathroom. Beca who was still a total enigma to Chloe in terms of how she really felt about her.</p><p>Sometimes Chloe felt as though her best friend had a crush on her in return. And then Beca would surprise her by not meeting her flirtatious comebacks with the same amount of flirty nature. And it had Chloe wondering if she was still getting it all wrong.</p><p><em>But</em>, Beca had just texted her, an hour after their brief interaction outside the bathroom. <em>And</em> she’d included a kiss at the end of it! So things were still okay between them. At least Beca had thought to text her.</p><p>So Chloe pressed ‘send’ and let out a sleepy sigh. Her eyes scanning across Beca’s precious text then her reply. A smile swept across her face.</p><p>———</p><p><em>Two kisses</em>. Beca smiled at the text Chloe had just sent in reply to her first. She’d take two kisses at the end of a text from Chloe any day. Not that it meant anything per say. But she kinda hoped it did.</p><p>
  <b>Goodnight Chlo xx</b>
</p><p>She texted freely, not hesitating for a moment. And not hesitating to put two kisses at the end either. Chloe was unlikely to overthink that little addition. She pressed ‘send’.</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe gripped her bottom lip between her teeth as Beca’s reply popped onto her phone screen. Two kisses! Chloe felt giddy with excitement. <em>Two</em> kisses.</p><p>
  <b>Niiiiight 🤗 xxx</b>
</p><p>———</p><p>Beca turned onto her side, staring at Chloe’s response, a broad grin on her face. She’d better go to sleep. The sooner she went to sleep the sooner she’d wake up. The sooner she could see Chloe again and try to find a time to tell her how she felt…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The door to Beca’s bedroom slowly creaked open as the brunette lay sprawled in a deep sleep on the floor, having shuffled off the arranged makeshift bed (couch cushions) during the night. A line of drool seeped from the corner of her mouth. And her phone rested face down on the floor, near to her outstretched hand, it having fallen from her hand since Beca had drifted off to sleep.</p><p>The visitor to the room, shuffled inside, her breathing heavy despite trying to be as quiet as possible.</p><p>Beca woke with a jolt, taking in a huge gasp of breath as her eyes flung open. A little body had thrown itself on her, waking her immediately. And as Beca attempted to get her head around what was happening, a loud squeaky voice sang out:</p><p>“Wake up Auntie Becaaaaa!!”</p><p>The rapturous giggling that followed caused a groggy groan to leave Beca’s mouth and, upon seeing little Bella Conrad clambering off her hips and down the length of her short skinny legs, Beca flopped backwards down onto her ‘bed’ once more. Her hand flew to her face as she rubbed it hard, trying to wake up, but she’d never been much of a morning person.</p><p>“What’s going on little dude?” Beca grumbled with a sleepy sigh, staring up at the ceiling while she felt Bella jumping up and down on the spot next to her head excitably. How could someone so young and small have so much energy??</p><p>“Auntie Chloe wants you.” Bella replied, swaying wildly from side to side while flapping her arms.</p><p>Beca <em>really</em> woke up at the sound of Chloe’s name. What time was it? And…what did Bella mean when she said Chloe <em>wanted</em> her?</p><p>“She said that?” Beca asked and the three year old nodded with a grin.</p><p>“Yep!”</p><p>“Did she say…why?”</p><p>Beca watched as Bella shrugged, looking just like a tiny version of her mother, then shook her little head.</p><p>“She jus’ said now.”</p><p>The adult furrowed her brow, easing herself up to her feet with a wince. She stooped down to pick her phone up and looked at the screen. 7am. Was this some weird way of sending a secret message to her? Via Bella?</p><p>Beca wasn’t sure whether to be excited or confused. But as she looked up and over at her large bed that Amy had been using as <em>her</em> bed, she saw it was empty, and that was when her excitement dropped and her confusion escalated. What could Chloe possible want her for? <em>Specifically</em> her.</p><p>She felt her hand being taken by a much smaller hand and she looked down to see little Bella tugging her towards the door. Beca allowed herself to be guided out of her bedroom, wandering along the hallway beside Bella who moved at a surprisingly fast pace given she was so young and small. Through to the open plan living space, and over to the huge bi-fold doors that were opened up. And the moment Beca stepped out into the sun she realised why she’d been summoned.</p><p>There, sat before her in the bright morning sunshine, were The Bellas, each on a yoga mat save for an empty yoga mat that laid out before Chloe within the group. Beca swallowed loudly as she saw Chloe beaming at her, facing the group. And Beca remembered that on the itinerary of isolation activities, this morning was due to be a pre-breakfast yoga session led by Chloe.</p><p>Bella dropped Beca’s hand and dashed up to her mother, leaning on the woman’s arm while asking, “Mamaaa, can I have some melon nowwwww?”</p><p>Beca shuffled slowly over to the spare yoga mat, impressed that the women had all thought to pack a mat in their suitcases when coming over to LA for this quarantine period. She settled down, crossing her legs and eventually bringing her gaze up to Chloe. Chloe who sat cross legged opposite her, her grin having softened to a coy smile. And Beca mirrored the coy smile in return, her heart racing.</p><p>“Right, now that everyone’s here.” Chloe began, now addressing the rest of The Bellas and almost purposefully avoiding Beca for fear of becoming a giddy mess, “We’ll begin with a warm-up and go from there.”</p><p>———</p><p>Beca’s arms wobbled as they held her body up with her toes in a plank position. She clenched her fists, noting the bead of sweat that ran down her nose. Her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to concentrate on her breathing. Whoever said yoga was relaxing had lied. Beca was far from relaxed.</p><p>“Okay, and down into an upward facing dog.” Chloe’s voice rang out clearly across the back yard, “Remember your breathing.”</p><p>Beca did as she was told, but in doing so caught Chloe’s eye. The two looked at each other and both burst into big beaming smiles. Beca didn’t exactly feel relaxed. But she sure felt happy.</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe hung back as the group rolled their respective mats up and headed inside for breakfast. She spent an extra long time curling her mat up, slowly and as evenly as possible. And all the while she hoped Beca would perhaps hang back with her. Perhaps walk inside with her too.</p><p>“You know,” a familiar voice began, “for someone who did an actual course to become a certified yoga instructor, you sure are struggling to roll a yoga mat back up.”</p><p>Chloe smiled, glancing up to see Beca stood beside her, her arms folded while her own yoga mat remained squished between her arms and chest. The brunette grinned at her, and Chloe tried to work out how Beca might be feeling based on her facial expression. But she couldn’t tell if Beca was as excited as she was to be around each other again for the first time since their bathroom run-in last night.</p><p>“Maybe I’m stalling?” Chloe suggested, rising to her feet and stuffing her rolled up mat under her arm.</p><p>“Are you??”</p><p>“Maybe.” Chloe replied with a shrug, and began slowly walking towards the open door. She glanced over her shoulder and delighted in seeing her crush watching her go, a coy smile on Beca’s face. “Are you coming? Or do you want me to save you a seat and get Bella to drag you to the breakfast table?”</p><p>Beca let out a light chuckle while wandering over to Chloe before joining her in a nice slow walk back into the house, ignoring the looks from The Bellas who gathered all sweaty and rejuvenated in the kitchen area, each wanting a glass of water.</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe stepped out of the bathroom, her sweaty yoga clothes gathered in her arms. It’d been two hours since the end of their pre-breakfast yoga session. Chloe had been a little disappointed that she hadn’t ended up sitting next to Beca at breakfast, but sitting opposite her instead hadn’t been so bad.</p><p>According to the ‘schedule’, The Bellas had a short period of time to get washed and dressed after the morning’s activity, before arts and crafts led by Jessica and Ashley. So Chloe already began thinking through what sort of clothes she could wear for an ‘arts and crafts’ session. Something no too valued. Something casual that she didn’t mind getting messy. Something-</p><p>Chloe stopped in her tracks as she rounded the corner of the hallway to see Beca up ahead, the brunette pacing outside Chloe and Emily’s guest bedroom, staring down at the floor as she did so. A curious smile wiped onto Chloe’s face. Beca looked anxious about something. As though she was psyching herself up. But why? And for what?</p><p>Beca picked at her cuticles, her heart racing at what felt like a million miles a minute. She had a huge question rolling around in her head. Desperate to ask Chloe. It was the clearest next step in their…<em>whatever</em> this was between them. But Beca was nervous as hell about asking it.</p><p>“Everything okay?”</p><p>Beca practically leapt out of her skin at the sound of Chloe’s amused voice behind her and the brunette swung wildly around on the spot, crashing backwards against the door with a gasp.</p><p>“Jesus dude, you gave me a fright!”</p><p>Chloe’s rapturous giggle helped calm Beca’s nerves, though the younger woman found her mouth going a bit dry when she realised her crush’s body was wrapped in a towel. Judging from the sight of Chloe’s collarbone, Chloe was likely naked beneath it.</p><p>“Sorry.” Chloe eventually said, smiling kindly, “Did you want something?”</p><p>“Yeah uh…” Beca replied, pushing herself off the door and stepping to the side so there was a bit more space between her and Chloe. It was often hard to think if Chloe was stood close.</p><p>Chloe’s bright blue eyes watched Beca’s every move. From the way her nose briefly wrinkled, to the way her hand flew to the back of her head to scratch her scalp anxiously. To the way Beca’s hands returned together across her stomach, those fingernails picking at each other while Beca plucked up some courage.</p><p>“Can I show you something?” Beca blurted, and Chloe’s eyebrows rose. She wasn’t expecting Beca to ask something like that.</p><p>“Oh. What right now?” she checked, motioning to the bedroom door with her thumb, but Beca’s hands shot up as though silently telling her to stop.</p><p>“<em>No</em>. No not right now. No.” Beca quickly replied, “Like, later. Tonight.”</p><p>“Later tonight?”</p><p>“Not <em>later</em> tonight.” Beca corrected, shaking her head gently before letting out an exhale of breath to calm her nerves, “Just tonight. Which happens to be later today. Tonight.”</p><p>Chloe’s heart skipped a beat at the idea of a planned meet-up with Beca. One that she assumed was just between the two of them. Like…like a date. Sort of. Maybe.</p><p>“Okay.” Chloe breathed out with a soft smile, enjoying the way Beca’s expression relaxed.</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Yeah.” Chloe confirmed with a nod, before checking: “Just me and you?”</p><p>“<em>Definitely</em> just me and you.” Beca insisted firmly.</p><p>“Then I’ll absolutely be there.”</p><p>Beca’s mouth broadened into a huge grin as she took another couple of steps backwards. Chloe tugged her bottom lip between her teeth in an attempt to hide how giddy she felt as Beca gave her a thumbs up.</p><p>“Awes.”</p><p>There was something very cute about a coy Beca. And in a way Chloe had a feeling that her asking about tonight had been on Beca’s mind for a little while. Now all Chloe could do was wonder what Beca was wanting to show her that had to wait until tonight..</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Beca tried to act casual. She really really did. She also tried to concentrate on what was a very complicated ‘arts &amp; crafts’ activity being run by Jessica and Ashley. The Bellas were scattered around the back yard to ensure as much space as possible was had to do their respective contributions to the activity. And despite having plenty of room and plenty of art supplies gathered either side of her crossed legs, Beca found her attention wandering across the grass to the figure of Chloe.</p><p>Chloe Beale who was laid on her front on the dry grass, beside Bella who had declared she needed help but had insisted against the help of her mother and of Aubrey (who, Beca noted, had actually been super responsive to the three year old’s needs since they’d all arrived here two nights ago). A soft smile was on Beca’s face as she watched the way Chloe interacted with the little girl. As though conversation with a child was completely natural to the redhead - her maternal instinct shining through.</p><p>Beca’s eyes found their way from Chloe’s smile, down the length of the woman’s body. And she swallowed loudly, contracting around the lump in her throat. Because Chloe has chosen a baggy shirt that was tied in a knot across her diaphragm, revealing her bare abdomen. And Beca’s eyes landed on a patch of smooth soft skin along Chloe’s side.</p><p>Chloe watched with a smile while Bella meticulously drew every member of The Bellas (not that she was supposed to know that because Bella had insisted she not peek until she was finished drawing).</p><p>“No looking!” the three year old piped up and Chloe quickly turned away when the child looked up at her.</p><p>“I’m not I’m not.” Chloe insisted with a giggle, and her gaze naturally drew its way over to Beca. To her delight she saw the brunette had been looking at her, and let out a light chuckle to herself when the woman snapped her attention down on the piece of paper she was drawing on. Even from the distance Chloe could see Beca’s coy smile and the way her cheeks flushed in embarrassment at getting caught staring.</p><p>“Auntie Beca’s your girlfriend.”</p><p>The little words were spoken so nonchalantly that Chloe did a double take, looking down at Bella, completely baffled about why the child had said such a thing. Surely she and Beca weren’t <em>that</em> obvious with their shared looks and flirting that a humble two and a bit year old had assumed they were romantically involved!</p><p>“Wha-” Chloe scoffed, almost lost for words, “N-No she’s not.” but she was met by a pair of wide green eyes that looked up at her innocently.</p><p>“In my picture.” Bella explained.</p><p>“Oh.” Chloe swallowed loudly. How silly of her. She looked down at Bella’s drawing and sure enough the stick figure with bright red hair appeared to be holding hands with a shorter, brown haired stick figure. It was pretty cute. But Chloe was still confused. “Why is she my girlfriend in your picture?”</p><p>Bella, who had changed the brown crayon in her hand for a black and was proceeding to draw another stick figure, this time next to (but not touching) the ‘Beca’ stick figure, just shrugged, “Because she wants to be your girlfriend.”</p><p>Chloe’s eyebrows rose, but a purse-lipped grin sprung onto her face. She <em>knew</em> it! Beca <em>did</em> like her! “She does?”</p><p>“Uhuh. She told me.”</p><p>“She did?” Chloe mumbled rhetorically, gripping her bottom lip between her teeth and slowly turning to glance over at Beca. Like before, Beca had already been looking at Chloe, and quickly snapped her attention back down to her picture. Chloe couldn’t help the light chuckle that fell from her mouth as she resumed her attention on the two and a half year old. “What else did she tell you?”</p><p>———</p><p>Beca saw out of the corner of her eye a pair of little feet racing up to her. She followed up the length of Bella’s body and squinted due to the sunlight behind the three year old’s head.</p><p>“Alright little dude?” she asked curiously, wondering why Bella was shaking as though she were fit to burst with excitement. She had her little hands behind her back, and swayed from side to side as she smiled broadly.</p><p>“My got something for you.” Bella announced in a loud-ish volume but said in a tone that suggested she had a secret. Beca brought her hand to her forehead to shade her eyes from the sun just as Bella produced a folded up piece of paper from behind her back. Beca took it with her free hand, having placed her respective craft stationary down, and looked at the words written on the front of it:</p><h2>
  <em>Auntie Beca</em>
</h2><p>Beca looked up curiously at the little girl who was looking over her shoulder at Chloe. Bella waved excitably at the redhead who, in return, motioned for her to turn back to Beca. So the three year old did just that, while Beca slowly opened her note to read the words on the inside:</p><h2>
  <em>Auntie Chloe has a crush on you 🖤</em>
</h2><p>Beca’s heart leapt into her throat, it racing as she read the words over and over in Chloe’s handwriting. This note confirmed it clearly what Beca had been suspecting for a couple of days now. Chloe had a <em>crush</em> on her!</p><p>“What does it say?” Bella asked and Beca hesitated.</p><p>“Uh…” she began, briefly wondering whether telling her the truth was a wise idea. But she decided it wasn’t, so replied, “…she’s telling me she likes chocolate.”</p><p>“My like chocolate too!” Bella said, then let out an excitable giggle as Beca quickly tore off a spare corner of paper and scrawled a few words, then folded it before writing:</p><h2>
  <em>Auntie Chloe</em>
</h2><p>on the front. The woman held it out to Bella with a smile, who took it immediately.</p><p>“Could you give this to Auntie Chloe for me?”</p><p>Bella nodded frantically, then sped away as fast as her little legs could carry her, over to Chloe. Beca held her breath and waited in anticipation at the redhead’s reaction to her note.</p><p>Chloe’s heart raced at a million miles an hour as she received the note from Bella and slowly opened it. Her smile grew as she read eight words she’d so desperately wanted to receive from Beca for so long.</p><h2>
  <em>Auntie Beca has a crush on you too 🖤</em>
</h2><p>She looked up and over at Beca who was, once again, watching her with a soft smile on her face. This time, however, Beca didn’t look away. Instead her smile grew and Chloe let out a shaky exhale of content as her own smile broadened across her face. She was already excited about what Beca had to show her tonight. But thanks to this note of confirmation she was now <em>really</em> excited.</p><p>———</p><p>Beca delved into the depths of her large fridge, attempting to find a yogurt she’d stashed a few days earlier. The problem was, since The Bellas had arrived, most of Beca’s usual food had been eaten or used towards cooking meals, and other food that she wouldn’t ever think twice about had appeared in its place. Leaving Beca wondering if her favourite yoghurt was even in her fridge any more.</p><p>“Hey.”</p><p>The sudden voice made Beca jump, her head colliding with the fridge shelf above her, and she let out a brief yelp before stepping back. She scrunched her nose up, rubbing the sore spot, but grinned when she came face to face with the owner of the voice.</p><p>Chloe’s bright blue eyes shone back at her, almost dancing in delight at finally managing to get a scrap of time alone together - despite the house being so large. Bella’s just some how managed to appear or arrive or interrupt before either Beca or Chloe could say anything to each other.</p><p>“Sorry.” Chloe said with a guilty expression but Beca just shrugged, closing the fridge door up. The yoghurt could wait.</p><p>“S’okay. I wasn’t after anything important.”</p><p>Chloe swayed gently on the spot, a couple of metres away from Beca, looking down at her index finger that skimmed along the edge of the kitchen work surface. Beca marvelled at Chloe’s fingers. They were long and always perfectly manicured and moisturi-</p><p>“Speaking of ‘important’.” Chloe mumbled, looking uncharacteristically nervous as she paused to bite her bottom lip while glancing cautiously at Beca, “Tonight…” she began.</p><p>“Tonight.” Beca echoed with a small nod, rocking back and forward on the balls of her feet, her hands behind her back to prevent her from flapping her hands too much and looking like a complete dick in front of her crush.</p><p>“…what should I wear?” Chloe asked, her eyes open an honest while she added, “I mean, I’m assuming this will be, like, a date so…should I wear something fancy or-”</p><p>“-Oh no.” Beca quickly interrupted, and if Chloe had already received that note from the woman, she would’ve been mistaken in thinking that tonight wouldn’t be anything special. “No just…” Beca paused to motion up and down Chloe’s body, “…what you’re wearing now is fine.”</p><p>“Only fine?” Chloe asked, looking down the length of her body, feeling a little disappointed. She knew Beca wasn’t the best with words when flustered, but given the content of the notes they’d swapped, she’d hoped Beca might be a little bolder with her compliments. Sure, the baggy shirt she was dressed in and short cropped pants weren’t exactly fancy, but she didn’t think her outfit warranted the label ‘<em>fine</em>’.</p><p>“Ye-<em>no</em>. No not <em>fine</em>, like…y-you look really <em>hot</em>.” Beca emphasised, her eyes immediately shooting down to Chloe’s belly button, then quickly to her chest. “Uh…” she grunted, then screwed her face up before bringing her hands up to cover her eyes, “I’m the worst at this.”</p><p>Chloe knew Beca better than anyone, which was why she was stood with her hands on her hips, leant against the kitchen counter while smiling in amusement at her crush becoming flustered by her appearance. Beca might’ve been hating this, but Chloe found the brunette’s reaction endearing.</p><p>“You’re better than you think.” she said in a soft, kind voice. Beca’s hands dropped to her sides while she let out a heavy exhale to compose herself.</p><p>“Wear whatever you like just…make sure you wear some sturdy footwear?” she suggested, looking down at Chloe’s bare feet. She swallowed loudly. She hadn’t thought about it recently but…she loved Chloe’s feet too. They were beautiful. A beautiful shape, beautifully pedicured nails, beautiful smooth skin-</p><p>“Are we walking somewhere?” Chloe’s voice cut through Beca’s thoughts and her attention snapped back up to her best friend’s face.</p><p>“Uh…more like climbing.” Beca revealed cautiously. She didn’t want to ruin the surprise by giving away too much too soon.</p><p>“<em>Climbing</em>??” Chloe’s eyes lit up with intrigue and a smile spread across Beca’s face. She’d missed how enthusiastic Chloe got about surprises. Or gaining any sort of new information really. It was addictive - that look in her eyes and that particular smile on her face.</p><p>“That’s all I’m saying.” Beca said, holding her hands up in defence and grinning at Chloe who hopped up and down gently on the spot. She’d tried to ignore the way Chloe’s boobs had bounced with the movement of her body. But Beca’s eyes had immediately been drawn. And Chloe has immediately noticed.</p><p>Beca’s smile dropped when she saw Chloe take a few slow steps towards her, a look on her face that she’d never seen before. And her eyes slowly flickered down to Chloe’s mouth as the redhead chewed on her bottom lip. Beca’s tongue swept quickly from left to right across her own lips and she swallowed loudly, her heart racing so fast it felt as though it was about to burst through her chest and grab the woman before her.</p><p>Chloe’s face was edging closer and closer to Beca’s and the two women held their breath, awaiting the inevitable.</p><p>Suddenly the sound of footsteps tumbling into the lounge from outside sounded and both Beca and Chloe launched themselves away from each other as though they’d been electrocuted. Beca practically dove into the large fridge, scrambling for <em>anything</em> that made it look like she hadn’t almost kissed Chloe. And Chloe has immediately opened a nearby cupboard, peering into it intently.</p><p>Fat Amy, Emily, and Flo arrived in the kitchen area, trying to hide their smiles. Whatever was going on here, it was obvious to the rest of The Bellas - Beca and Chloe were starting to figure each other out. <em>Romantically</em>.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chloe laid on her side in bed, her eyes focussing on nothing in particular through the darkness. It was gone midnight and The Bellas had all drifted to their respective rooms to get an ‘early’ night after the day’s activities. Beca and Chloe had had an unspoken agreement to do the same. But Chloe had been laying in her bed for almost an hour now with still no signal from Beca that it was time for them to have their ‘date’.</p><p>The redhead swallowed loudly and her stomach plummeted. Perhaps she’d got it wrong? Perhaps this wasn’t going to be a date. After all, Beca hadn’t exactly agreed that it was. But then…she hadn’t exactly denied it wasn’t going to be a date either.</p><p>Chloe let out a heavy sigh, turning onto her back. She was confused. And a little upset too. She’s assumed that now they’d confessed to each other that they liked the other romantically that there’d be no doubt wherever Beca was taking her tonight would be a date. Not that they could exactly go far with the lockdown, but still-</p><p>Suddenly Chloe’s phone vibrated and the woman flung an arm out to grab it. She swore under her breath as the device fell to the floor with a clatter and she held her breath, listening out to hear if she’d woken her roommate. But other than a grunt, followed by heavy breathing from her friend, Chloe quickly concluded that Emily was still asleep on the other side of the room.</p><p>She flopped her upper-body out of bed, feeling blindly on the hard floor for her phone, her fingers eventually nudging then successfully wrapping around it. Chloe settled back in bed, hastily unlocking her phone and her heart skipped a beat when she saw a message from Beca that had been sent moments ago:</p><p>
  <b>Meet me by the fire pit ❤️</b>
</p><p>The redhead held her breath again, and slowly eased herself out of bed. She decided to leave her phone on the side to make it look like she’d only left the room to pop to the bathroom. That way, if Emily woke up, she was far less likely to go looking for her - Emily’s FOMO far outweighing her sense of worry. The last thing Chloe wanted was for someone to third or fourth or tenth-wheel whatever Beca had planned for the two of them.</p><p>———</p><p>Beca stood anxiously by the fire pit, tapping her foot on the ground. An hour should be long enough for the rest of The Bellas to have fallen asleep by now, surely. Her biggest hope, however, was that Chloe hadn’t fallen asleep too. She’d texted her three minutes ago. And Chloe <em>still</em> hadn’t texted back to confirm she was on her way.</p><p>God, what if she <em>had</em> fallen asleep? Beca was kicking herself internally. She should’ve texted Chloe earlier. They should’ve come up with an agreed plan of how to sneak out of the house together tonight. But then…Chloe always <em>had</em> been one to take ages to get ready. Perhaps this was another occasion? Though Beca couldn’t see why Chloe would possibly need to get ready. They were just going to hang out. Potentially with a level of intimacy neither had experience together before. And Chloe looked amazing no matter what she wore or how she looked.</p><p>Beca felt her chest tighten with nerves at the prospect of what tonight might bring. What if it went horribly? Should Chloé turn up of course.</p><p>As if hearing her name being thought, Chloe Beale appeared in Beca’s line of sight, and a heavy exhale escaped both their mouths while coy grins appeared across their faces. The redhead stepped outside and slowly over to the fire pit, her hands behind her back.</p><p>Beca took the time to allow her gaze to drift down the length of the woman’s body. From the cute blue vest-top, down to the short pants, and ending at a sensible pair of sneakers. Definitely sturdy.</p><p>“Is what I’m wearing okay?” Chloe asked quietly, nervously, hoping that Beca liked it. And Beca’s smile simply broadened, looking up at the redhead as though she’d put the stars in the sky.</p><p>“You look amazing.” Beca replied, and even she herself had to admit that she wasn’t blowing it - at least not yet anyway. She lessened the gap between them, and reached out to take Chloe’s hand in hers. “Come on.” she mumbled with a smile, and began guiding the woman away from the fire pit.</p><p>Chloe couldn’t help the smile on her face, loving the feel of Beca’s hand. Loving the feel of being guided somewhere by her. Just…<em>loving</em> <em>her</em>. Her eyes looked to see what Beca was wearing, pleased to see that while Beca looked amazing, she didn’t appear to have gone all out when trying to look nice tonight. Nothing fancy. Just some black jeans and a white vest-top. And some white sneakers that looked suspiciously new. Her brown hair long and flowing down her back. Chloe swallowed loudly as she realised she could smell Beca’s shampoo. God, she’d missed that smell. They came to a stop round the side of the house, near the garage, and Chloe noticed the way Beca looked up to the roof then down at her with a grin.</p><p>“Follow me.” Beca said, then Chloe marvelled at how expertly the petite brunette climbed up the side of the house via a drainpipe and protruding bricks. Once on the roof, Beca looked down at Chloe with a grin, “Come on. It’s alright. Just use the same route I did.”</p><p>Chloe sucked in a deep intake of breath, staring at the route of the building she was expected to clamber up. This was pretty spontaneous for Beca. And fearless of Beca too. But Chloe has never been one to worry when following her crush was a requirement.</p><p>Beca watched in awe as Chloe smoothly scrambled up the side of the building, stepping and pulling on almost the exact points Beca herself had. And as the redhead finally reached the roof with a sigh of relief and finality, Beca’s breath caught in her throat. Chloe looked even more amazing in the moonlight.</p><p>“Now I see why you insisted on the sturdy footwear.” Chloe breathed out with a chuckle, trying to catch her breath, and she heard Beca chuckle in response. She looked up to see the woman smiling softly at her, and realised just how close they were stood together.</p><p>“One last little bit.” Beca said in a quiet tone, taking Chloe’s hand again and guiding her across the roof of the house. Chloe’s smile broadened as she looked around them, a gasp falling from her mouth while she held onto Beca’s hand with both of her own. Surrounding them was the most beautiful view of LA, lighting up in the nights sky along with the bright moon. And barely a sound from the once noisy city - such was the intensity of a city-wide lockdown during a worldwide pandemic.</p><p>“Here.”</p><p>Beca brought them both to a standstill and Chloe’s attention returned to the brunette, then followed her line of sight down to a picnic blanket with an open hamper of snacks and a couple of bottles of beer. Chloe’s smile broadened again, her bottom lip gripped between her teeth as she let out a giddy giggle.</p><p>“God, Beca…<em>wow</em>!”</p><p>———</p><p>“So let me guess…” Chloe began, picking nervously at a single piece of sweet popcorn that she’d been holding for a while now, “…this is always where you bring girls to impress them?”</p><p>Beca looked down at her beer bottle with a coy smile, picking at the label with her thumbnail. She didn’t know how long they’d been up on the roof for so far. But she did know it’d been long enough to open every pack of snacks she’d snuck into the hamper throughout the day, even if they both hadn’t eaten much yet. Dinner tonight had been really filling so Beca wasn’t surprised the packets were generally untouched right now.</p><p>“There’s never been any others.” Beca admitted, her chest feeling tight as she tottered on the brink of revealing all to Chloe. And one look into Chloe’s eyes was all it took to tip her over the edge, “Only you.”</p><p>Chloe’s heart warmed at the affectionate expression on her crush’s face, and she suddenly felt elated when Beca added:</p><p>“It’s only ever been you, Chloe.”</p><p>Beca watched the redhead tug at her bottom lip again, something she knew the woman did when she was flattered by something or tempted by something. Beca knew she must’ve flattered Chloe. But perhaps Chloe was tempted to reveal something too?</p><p>“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear you say that.” Chloe burst with a smile, looking out at the view of the city that lay before them.</p><p>They both sat cross-legged on the picnic blanket, the hamper between them. And Beca continued to pick at the label of her beer bottle somewhat anxiously. Not anxious because she didn’t know how Chloe felt about her per-say. Not anxious because this ‘date’ wasn’t going well - it certainly <em>seemed</em> to be going well. But anxious because she didn’t really know what to say or do next. Anxious because Chloe really <em>mattered</em> to Beca, and Beca wanted to make Chloe happy.</p><p>So as she looked out at the view too, she took a deep breath, and carried on revealing things to Chloe. Carried on knocking down the wall she’d maticulousoy built to protect herself in the music industry since moving to LA and away from the redhead:</p><p>“You know, I come up here a lot. Write lyrics. Mix music.” Beca paused, internally urging herself to continue. And Chloe waited patiently, having now turned to look at her best friend with a calm smile on her face. Loving the way Beca explained her ‘music making process’. Knowing that the woman hadn’t finished talking. And Beca was grateful that Chloe knew her so well.</p><p>“But most of the time I just think about you. I think about how much you’d love this view. How you’d talk about the heat of the sun or the sound of the birds in the daytime. How you’d talk about how much you love looking up at the stars at night…”</p><p>Chloe was speechless, hanging onto Beca’s every word, her mouth open slightly revealing a soft smile in the corners. She’d been ‘courted’ by many a person in her lifetime, but none of them held a flame to Beca. And to her delight, Beca was fast becoming worth the wait.</p><p>“I know we lost touch a bit.” Beca continued, turning to Chloe, “But I just wanted you to know that not a day has gone by since moving to LA where I’ve not thought about you. And how much I desperately wanted to bring you up here and show you this view.”</p><p>Chloe let out a shaky sigh of content, her shoulders relaxing, and her smile broadened, “Well I’m pleased you did. I love it.” she replied, turning to the view, pausing while trying to find the right words to say next. But given that Beca had just revealed so much, she went with a ‘no fucks given’ attitude, and grinned, “And I’m in love with you.”</p><p>It was the alcohol. It <em>had</em> to be the alcohol. And the romantic setting. And the fact that it was <em>Beca</em>. And that they were in quarantine together (with the rest of The Bellas, but still..). And that they were currently in this perfect little bubble, with no interruptions from the world outside of this house. All of that mixed with Chloe’s natural impulsive nature when it came to being forward and enthusiastic (though it had fortunately toned down a heap since her mid-twenties), meant that all caution had been thrown to the wind. <em>She’d finally said it</em>. Had actually revealed the deepest darkest secret she held - revealing it to the actual person her secret was about. She’d finally told Beca she was in love with her.</p><p>Beca let out a chuckle the second Chloe’s eyes met hers and they both grinned at each other. Trust Chloe to be that impulsive. But it was certainly a relief for Beca to hear the woman say it. Because the moment she heard those words, it was as though a switch had been flicked on in her brain and her heart. There it was. It all made sense. Chloe was <em>in love</em> with her. And <em>she</em> was in love with Chloe <em>in return</em>.</p><p>Chloe watched with baited breath as Beca nodded gently, and noticed the way the woman inhale sharply through her nose before replying clearly through the night, “I’m in love with you too.”</p><p>They both chuckled once again, then looked down at their respective beers with coy grins on their faces. At least they’d finally revealed it to each other.</p><p>———</p><p>They hadn’t kissed. Chloe was happily walking hand in hand with Beca around the garden, chatting away to her and vice-versa. And yet one thing baffled her…they <em>still</em> hadn’t kissed!</p><p>Just over an hour ago they’d confessed they were in love with each other. Then they’d chatted about moments over the years when they’d felt it and had wanted to tell the other but things had got in the way (which it turned out had been a <em>lot</em> of things). But they’d not kissed.</p><p>Then Beca had suggested they go for a walk around the grounds of her house, to stretch their legs. Chloe had agreed. And still no first kiss together.</p><p>Now, as they headed slowly along the edge of the pool hand in hand, Chloe saw the fire pit and the doors to the lounge approaching up ahead. If she didn’t act fast, they’d be doomed to reach the house without a kiss, only for one or more of The Bellas to bump into them or turn up at the most inconvenient time and ruin the moment entirely.</p><p>So, acting on impulse once more, Chloe turned abruptly and swooped her face towards Beca’s. Towards Beca who was caught completely off guard, and the force of Chloe’s body knocked her to the side, directly into the pool before Chloe’s lips could lock with the brunette’s.</p><p>Chloe stood in stunned silence, both hands cupping her mouth in horror as she looked down and watched Beca floundering a little before her head broke through the surface with a loud splutter.</p><p>“Fucking hell Chloe!” Beca yelped, though the grin on her face told the dry woman on the side that Beca wasn’t angry, just surprised.</p><p>“I’m sorry!!” Chloe insisted, looking concerned and apologetic. Beca swum to the edge of the pool, using one hand to grab to the side while her other pushed back her wet brown hair. “Here let me help you.” Chloe added, reaching a hand down to her best friend.</p><p>But in an instant she realised her mistake, and the last thing she saw was a mischievous twinkle in Beca’s eye before the brunette tugged Chloe into the pool water behind her..</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Beca sank down into the warm pool water so that her chin and most of her smirk were hidden beneath the surface as she watched her crush surge up to take a breath of air. The redhead had fallen fairly gracefully into the pool when Beca had dragged her in just now. Chloe popped her head up out of the water, letting out a chuckle then pushed her wet hair back from her face and rubbed her eyes while successfully treading water.</p><p>The moment the two locked eyes, they burst into laughter, both feeling giddy with excitement. Excitement about being together. The rush of adrenaline for being in the pool fully clothed. Excitement at what might be about to happen between them. Beca swallowed loudly, laughter subsiding while she held onto the side of the pool and watched Chloe slowly swim towards her.</p><p>“I can’t believe you did that.” Chloe mumbled with a chuckle, spitting a tiny bit of remaining pool water from her mouth then wiping her face with her hand again.</p><p>“Me??” Beca replied in defence, a broad smile on her face as Chloe’s hands reached out and held a bit of pool wall. As it was, Chloe’s arms were nestled either side of Beca’s diaphragm. So the brunette was left with little choice but to hang her own arms around Chloe’s neck, trusting the woman to keep their heads above water. “You were the one who pushed me in.”</p><p>Chloe scoffed, but was somewhat distracted by Beca’s flirtatious tone. So with a grin she just shrugged, “In my defence…” she paused to come up with an excuse but the sight of Beca suddenly raising her eyebrows expectantly made her giddy, so instead Chloe chuckled before adding, “…okay I have no defence. I was just trying to kiss you.”</p><p>“Oh you <em>were</em>?” Beca hummed with approval, her gaze drifting down to Chloe’s lips, trying to ignore her growing arousal at the feel of the redhead’s body tight against hers.</p><p>“Uhuh.”</p><p>“<em>Interesting</em>.”</p><p>Beca’s final word was more of a mumble than any of her words before, becoming distracted by the way Chloe’s face was getting slowly closer to hers by the second.</p><p>“<em>Very interesting</em>.” Chloe whispered as the tip of her nose nestled into the nook of Beca’s nostril and cheek, their lips millimetres from one another.</p><p>“Didn’t exactly work out the way you’d hoped huh?” Beca managed to mumble in a distracted tone as her eyes fluttered closed, her face rocking up and down slightly at the tempo that Chloe’s was moving at, her heart racing with excitement and anticipation.</p><p>“This’ll have to do.” Chloe replied quietly, and with that, she closed her lips over Beca’s.</p><p>Beca hadn’t anticipated her breath being taken away the moment she finally kissed Chloe for the first time. But her breath certainly caught in her throat, her lips tingling from the gentle pressure of Chloe’s kiss. Her hands cupped the back of Chloe’s neck, and a smile swept across her face as the kiss slowly ended sweetly.</p><p>The tips of their noses nudged affectionately against one another as their eyes slowly opened, and the two women brought their faces apart by a couple of inches to look into the others eyes. There they both let out chuckles, followed by exhales of relief and delight. There was a sense of belonging unlike anything they’d ever felt before. Sure they’d felt some element of belonging together over the years that they’d been housemates then roommates. But now they’d verbally shared mutual deeply romantic feelings for one another and a kiss, things felt even more set.</p><p>With that kiss Beca knew that her feelings for Chloe were right. With that kiss Chloe knew that Beca felt the same and she did for her.</p><p>Their smiles softened, and this time they quickly resumed kissing. The pressure against one another’s lips was far firmer. Beca held Chloe that little bit tighter, her legs wrapping around the redhead’s waist. And Chloe used her position to press Beca harder against the side of the pool to express her desire for the younger woman.</p><p>Beca wasn’t sure how Chloe was managing it, but with each rock of their faces into the kiss, Chloe also managed to bob their bodies up and down in the water, grinding into Beca as she did. And it was driving the brunette a bit crazy.</p><p>Chloe’s heart skipped a beat in excitement when she felt Beca’s tongue swipe patiently from left to right as if requesting access. And Chloe fully obliged, parting her lips to allow Beca inside. They both hummed in approval as their tongues danced in Chloe’s mouth, and Beca’s fingers had managed to wind their way up into Chloe’s wet red locks.</p><p>———</p><p>An hour or so had gone by, and Beca and Chloe had utilised it beautifully - making out in the pool with reckless abandon. Pausing on occasion to chuckle, or briefly talk about how long they’d wanted this, or to change position slightly based on how tired one of them was getting. But eventually they both agreed it was best they got out of the pool and perhaps returned to the roof to continue drinking beer and look out at the view and chat the night away.</p><p>“Actually,” Chloe said as she pulled her body out of the pool and rose to her feet, wringing the base of her top out as best as possible, “I think I need a shower.”</p><p>Beca, who had already got out of the pool to attempt to assist Chloe (who hadn’t needed any assistance being the physically stronger of the two), wiped her dripping nose with the heel of her hand, “O-kaaay?” she replied, looking at Chloe in confusion, wondering why she’d changed her mind so quickly. Had Chloe decided that enough was enough for tonight? That a couple of hours was enough of a date for one day? Where would that leave them if so? Would they continue dating in secret or…would this be the only date they’ll ever have?</p><p>“Wanna shower with me?” Chloe asked with a grin, rocking back and forth on the balls then heels of her feet, her hands behind her back. She’d be remiss if she hadn’t took time to admire Beca’s sopping wet appearance while the brunette clambered out of the pool before her. Beca had chosen to wear a black bra underneath her white vest top. And Chloe approved. <em>Really</em> approved. But to her surprise, Beca seemed to hesitate.</p><p>“Or-or not!” Chloe quickly added, panicking a little that the woman hadn’t seemed keen. She thought they’d been having a good time. That Beca was on the same page as her, not wanting to go to bed just yet but not wanting to sit out in wet clothes in the middle of the night.</p><p>“No it…” Beca began nervously. She didn’t want to ruin things here, but she had to be honest, “I-I want to, yeah! Just…not tonight.” Beca could see Chloe’s confusion thickening and she began to panic, bringing her hands out as if asking the redhead to stop, “Not…” she let out a heavy sigh, her arms dropping to her sides, her shoulders sagging. She was losing Chloe, surely. “I just don’t want our first time to be in the shower, you know?”</p><p>Chloe’s eyebrows flew to her hairline as she allowed Beca’s words to sink in. She hadn’t exactly planned what taking a shower together would <em>mean. </em>She just thought it’d be fun. And probably quite funny too. Especially as it’d likely be agreed between them that they’d have to do everything possible to ensure they <em>didn’t</em> wake anyone else in the house. But clearly Beca’s immediate thought had been that Chloe’s offer meant the two of them having sex in the shower. Nice, yeah. But a bit too soon.</p><p>“I genuinely wasn’t going to pounce on you, Beca.” Chloe said with a nervous chuckle and to her relief Beca smiled, chuckling a bit herself.</p><p>“Oh.” Beca replied, blushing in embarrassment at her assumption. God she was an idiot sometimes. Especially around Chloe.</p><p>“I get that it sounds like something I’d do. Or at least what I used to do.” Chloe continued, looking at Beca awkwardly, a blush tainting her own cheeks when she thought about how poor she’d been at reading signals in college. She hadn’t meant for her old reputation to proceed her so..</p><p>“No!” Beca was quickly blurted, “No, I…I-I didn’t mean y-…I didn’t mean that was how you were coming across.” she tried to explain, her hand raking through her damp hair, her fingers getting caught in a tangle so she simply swung her hand back out again, “God, I’m sorry, I’m so shit with words but I…”</p><p>Another sigh fell from her mouth and her eyes darted around the surrounding area, not looking at anything in particular because she was beginning to panic so much, “…I-I…” her eyes finally found their way back to the sight of Chloe, and she looked at the redhead desperately:</p><p>“I need you to know what a big deal it is to me.” she attempted to explain, “That you love me as much as I love you and that we’re here, together,” the words began tumbling out of her mouth quicker and quicker, barely making time to take a breath, “and I’ve really been enjoying tonight, and then we kissed, and that was <em>amazing</em>, but now I’ve ruined it by accusing you of wanting to rush things and I’m not accusing you, honest!”</p><p>Chloe watched on, her mouth hung open slightly in shock at her best friend’s sudden change in mood, Beca clearly becoming upset that she might have ruined everything. The brunette brought her hand to her forehead then grunted with a grimace before flapping her arm down to her side:</p><p>“A-And now I’m not even sure if I’m wet from the pool water or from the fact I’m now sweating because I’m panicking so much that you’ll never want to kiss me again and if you don’t ever want to kiss me again then I get it, I <em>totally</em> get it, because I’m a total di-”</p><p>Beca’s sentence was cut off abruptly when Chloe suddenly surged forward, kissing her firmly on the lips while her hands cupped her cheeks. Beca’s legs became like jelly and her body immediately relaxed, her arms wrapping comfortably around Chloe’s waist, melting into the kiss. They both inhaled deeply through their noses and on the exhale Chloe broke the kiss, a smile sweeping across her face as she opened her eyes to see Beca with a pleasantly surprised expression on her face, the brunette’s eyes still closed.</p><p>“Better?” Chloe mumbled, and she chuckled when a smile sprung onto Beca’s face as the woman’s eyes opened.</p><p>“Yeah. Thanks.”</p><p>The two women stood blissfully together, Beca with her arms around Chloe’s waist, Chloe with her hands gently cradling Beca’s face. Beca relieved that Chloe was able to ground her. Chloe thrilled that she was able to calm Beca so well.</p><p>“Still fancy that shower?” Beca asked quietly, biting her bottom lip when her eyes flickered down to Chloe’s lips then back up to her bright blue eyes again. To her surprise though, she saw her best friend hesitate, and Chloe’s mouth contorted awkwardly.</p><p>“I can’t promise I’ll be able to keep my hands off you..” she warned and Beca’s smile broadened.</p><p>“Oh I have <em>no</em> problem with your wandering hands, Beale.”</p><p>“No sex.” Chloe added softly, mirroring Beca’s smile, and the brunette nodded gently.</p><p>“One day.” she confirmed, “But not tonight.”</p><p>“<em>Not tonight.</em>” Chloe echoed in a whisper, her eyes fluttering closed as her lips drew themselves towards Beca’s, and shared a soft kiss with the woman she’d crushed on for so many years.</p><p>———</p><p>Lilly sat back in her chair, putting down her binoculars and picking up her phone.</p><h2>‘Project Bhloe WhatsApp Group’</h2><p><b>Lilly</b>: Beca and Chloe are kissing in the back yard.</p><p><b>Lilly</b>: Think they’ve been having a date.</p><p><b>Lilly</b>: Beca just had a bit of a meltdown.</p><p><b>Lilly</b>: Chloe’s cheered her up.</p><p>The woman sat forward again, looking up from her phone to peer out of the ‘window’ of her treehouse that she’d meticulously built overnight on her first night here in LA. She watched as Beca and Chloe slowly walked away from the pool, smiling, hand-in-hand. Then upon reaching the back door of the house, Beca held the door open for Chloe, and the redhead kissed her on the cheek before stepping inside. Beca followed closely, closing the door behind her.</p><p><b>Lilly</b>: They’ve gone inside now.</p><p><b>Lilly</b>: Over and out.</p><p>Lilly settled back in her chair again, placing her phone down and letting out a sleepy sigh. She’d wait until the morning to read The Bellas’ inevitable reaction to her updates. Her eyes slowly closed. And she soon fell asleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Okay it was one thing suggesting it. But as Beca slipped into the bathroom behind Chloe, she realised just how daunting this all was - the idea of being naked with the woman who had <em>literally</em> been in her dreams for a good couple of years now. Maybe even longer. The woman of her dreams…</p><p>The sound of the shower suddenly turning on caused Beca to jump out of her daydream and she blinked a few times until she suddenly remembered that this <em>wasn’t</em> a dream anymore. That Chloe <em>was</em> really stood before her with a nervous grin on her face. That Chloe was beginning to peel her own damp clothes off her body until she was down to her underwear.</p><p>Beca’s eyes drifted down the length of the woman’s body and once they reached the feet a bra suddenly dropped down beside them. If Chloe could’ve captured Beca’s expression on camera the second the brunette had looked up to her chest, she would have. It was a priceless expression. A dopey immature grin swept across Beca’s face as she looked from Chloe’s right boob to left. And it caused a chuckle to ripple from the redhead’s mouth.</p><p>The chuckle caused Beca to quickly look from Chloe’s boobs up to the woman’s face and she cleared her throat awkwardly before beginning to peel her own wet clothes off. One by one. Pants first. Then top. But just as she managed to pull the damp vest over her head, she looked over to see Chloe disappear into the shower and out of view.</p><p>The sound of the hot water rattling against the walls and door of the shower had Beca’s heart racing with nerves and excitement. And she frantically pulled her bra and panties off, keen to join the woman as soon as possible.</p><p>Chloe stood under the stream of hot water, the bathroom already steamed up. And her eyes lit up at the sight of Beca’s body stepping naked into the shower to join her. It was a sizeable shower for sure. But neither Chloe or Beca maintained the space that was probably required for two women to wash under the same shower head.</p><p>This was such a stark distance from the first (and only other time) they’d been naked together in the same shower. Back then, in college, they’d hardly known each other. Beca hadn’t even known Chloe’s name. And to Chloe, Beca’s name had been ‘Hot Girl from the Fair’ until that meeting in the shower, then in Chloe’s head she’d simply called Beca ‘Hot Girl in the Shower’. Then, of course, two days later Beca had joined the Barden Bellas and Chloe finally knew her name and used it frequently. When talking to Beca. When talking <em>about</em> Beca…</p><p>Chloe let out a light squeak of delight as she felt Beca’s hands smooth across her hips joining together at the small of her back, and as a result their naked bodies pressed against one another for the first time. Beca’s grin was as broad as Chloe’s when she brought her lips to Chloe’s ear and mumbled clearly:</p><p>“You gotta keep it down unless you wanna wake the house up.”</p><p>And Chloe tried to stifle a giggle that slipped into a soft moan when she felt Beca’s lips move from her ear to place large firm kisses on her neck..</p><p>———</p><p>“We’d better go to bed.” Chloe mumbled against Beca’s smiling lips, trying to be as quiet as possible despite how giggly and giddy she was feeling. Tonight had truly been like a dream. <em>Better</em> than a dream. Better because this was actually <em>reality</em>.</p><p>“<em>Five more minutes.</em>” Beca whispered, her hands having gathered parts of Chloe’s towel into fistfuls at the redhead’s hips, pulling the woman’s body against hers while her own back was up against the wall beside her bedroom door. They’d been stood out in the hallway for a good twenty minutes post-shower. A shower that had definitely not been quick.</p><p>“<em>You said that ten minutes ago-ho</em>.” Chloe said with a chuckle, not for a second moving her body away from Beca’s. The brunette was brushing the tip of Chloe’s nose with her own, both grinning with hooded eyelids. They’d been awake almost 24 hours. But right now neither of them felt tired. They felt energised and excited and happier than ever before.</p><p>Chloe assumed she should probably suggest they end their date considering it was fast approaching 5am. Bella would soon be up, and with her Stacie (and probably Aubrey for some reason). And if she and Beca were wanting to keep their <em>whatever</em> going on in secret for now (which Chloe suspected Beca would), then parting now before the rest of the house woke and potentially caught them would be the best idea.</p><p>“<em>I don’t exactly see you leaving right now</em>.” Beca observed in a playful whisper, her right eyebrow twitching up while she gave Chloe a side-smile. Her heart warmed when she watched the redhead let out a heavy sigh, bright blue eyes rolling to the ceiling before drawing their way back down to Beca’s. Chloe’s hips rocked forward, pushing into Beca while her arms remained hung over the woman’s shoulders.</p><p>“<em>How can I possibly leave you right now?</em>” Chloe asked quietly, her voice hissing down the echoey hallway, “<em>I’ve waited years to be able to be like this with you!</em>”</p><p>The confession had a broad smile sweeping across Beca’s face, “<em>I’ve waited years to be like this with you too. So let’s stay here a little longer.”</em></p><p>Chloe bit her bottom lip thoughtfully. It was tempting to stay up the remaining two hours before the rest of The Bellas began waking up. But technically it’d only be about another half hour or so before the youngest member of the house would be awake. And as exciting as being with Beca was and how amazing it felt to finally be able to kiss her and hold her and be kissed by her and held by her, Chloe also wanted to enjoy the anticipation and excitement of seeing Beca again after a tiny short time apart.</p><p>“<em>Two more minutes.” </em>she replied, holding two fingers up to emphasise the time remaining, “<em>Then we go to our beds</em>.”</p><p>“<em>Deal</em>.” Beca agreed, though low-key expected Chloe to allow her to stretch the time out a little longer. They both shared a gentle kiss, smiles on their faces while they stood in the hallway at the back of the house in nothing but towels, their respective hair still damp from the shower they’d shared earlier.</p><p>Suddenly a voice sounded from behind the door of one of the nearby bedrooms and the two women snapped apart. Bella Conrad was awake and from the sound of things clambering up onto her mother’s side of the bed.</p><p>Chloe quickly swept forward, placing a snap of a kiss on Beca’s lips before taking several steps towards the bedroom she was sharing with Emily. She paused to look over her shoulder at Beca with a huge grin on her face, her hand shooting up to her mouth to muffle a giggle. Beca grinned, waving her hands in a shooing motion, “<em>Go!</em>” she whispered loudly, letting out a tiny chuckle.</p><p>“<em>See you in a couple of hours</em>.” Chloe hissed and the brunette nodded quickly, both still smiling broadly.</p><p>Beca wondered if Chloe would dash back over to her to give her another kiss. Hell, <em>she</em> even considered dashing to Chloe herself, keen to feel the woman’s soft lips on her own once again. But Chloe gave Beca a wink, then slipped out of sight through the door into her bedroom. At the sound of the gentle ‘click’ of the bedroom door closing, Beca let out a happy exhale through her nose, and snuck into her own bedroom before closing the door behind her.</p><p>———</p><p>“Mamaaaaa!” Bella’s voice grated through the once calm peaceful silence of the bedroom that Stacie, Aubrey, and Bella were sharing. Stacie let out a sleepy groan, nestling further into Aubrey’s warm body, the blonde with her arms wrapped around Stacie’s upper body already.</p><p>“Maaaaamaaaaa!” the two and a half year old sang, this time a little closer to Stacie’s ear, and the mother let out another groan.</p><p>“Mama’s not here.” Stacie mumbled against Aubrey’s side-boob. Her daughter, however, just giggled. And with that giggle, Stacie felt the child bounce up from the mattress then land heavily on Stacie’s hip. Stacie let out a loud yelp of pain, enough to cause Aubrey to wake suddenly - having already been stirring to the sound of Bella’s little voice.</p><p>“Easy with Mama there, sweetheart.” Aubrey said gently in a sleepy tone, bringing her hand from around Stacie to invite Bella into the early morning bed-cuddle. And the little girl took great delight in scrambling over her mother’s body and tucking herself between Stacie and Aubrey. The two women allowed their arms to flop over Bella’s little tummy, and the little (secret) family of three settled while silence resumed in the bedroom once more.</p><p>After a couple of minutes, however, Stacie’s phone began vibrating. And Aubrey’s vibrated at the very same tempo and time. Both women let out sleepy sighs, but it was only Stacie who reluctantly peeled herself away from her girlfriend and daughter to see why her phone was filling with messages.</p><p>“Probably the girls.” Aubrey mumbled with her eyes closed, while Bella fiddled with a lock of her long blonde hair. The two and a half year old was obsessed with Aubrey’s hair. Was forever twirling it between her fingers and brushing it with her toy brush. And Aubrey allowed her, such was the woman’s patience and adoration of her ‘stepdaughter’.</p><p>“It’s the Bhloe chat.” Stacie corrected as she sat up to read the messages. Suddenly a sharp gasp fell from her mouth and it caused Aubrey’s eyes to snap open curiously.</p><p>“Something happen between them?” she asked, having suspected for a while that it wouldn’t take Chloe and Beca long to finally get their act together. Chloe had always held a flame for Beca. And Beca? Well she’d definitely been looking at Chloe differently for years..</p><p>“They were on a date overnight!!” Stacie burst with an excited grin.</p><p>“What?!” Aubrey sat up in bed, making Bella jump it was so sudden. The two and a half year old sat up to join her mother and stepmother, peering at the phone that Aubrey now looked at over Stacie’s shoulder. “Oh my God! Well played Lilly!”</p><p>———</p><h2>‘Project Bhloe WhatsApp Group’</h2><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Beca’s only just got in bed!</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Dirty stop out!</p><p><b>Cynthia Rose</b>: 😂😂😂</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Chloe’s only just got in bed too!</p><p><b>Jessica</b>: What have they been doing all this time?!</p><p><b>Flo</b>: They must’ve been in the shower</p><p><b>Flo</b>: I got up to go to the bathroom</p><p><b>Flo</b>: And someone was having a shower in there</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Both of them?? 👀</p><p><b>Ashley</b>: Bet it was both of them!</p><p><b>Ashley</b>: Do either of them have wet hair?</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Beca looks like she does yeah</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Chloe does</p><p><b>Stacie</b>:</p><p>
  
</p><p><b>Stacie</b>: FINALLY!!</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Beca’s texting!!!</p><p><b>Ashley</b>: Emily, is Chloe replying?</p><p><b>Emily</b>: She’s not even looking at her phone 🤷🏻‍♀️</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Hold on!!</p><p><b>Emily</b>: She’s just got a text!</p><p><b>Emily</b>: She’s smiling 😍😍😍</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Beca’s smiling too</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Chloe’s texting back!</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Beca’s phone just vibrated!</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Reckon it was Chloe judging by Beca’s smile</p><p>———</p><p>Beca grinned as she looked at Chloe’s reply to her text:</p><p>
  <em>No I left my phone on the bedside table just in case Emily wondered where I was 😇 xxx</em>
</p><p>Beca began quickly texting a response, wanting to chuckle she was feeling so giddy. But she kept the urge at bay, not wanting to wake Amy for any reason. Amy who was snoring really loudly..</p><p>
  <em>You’re so smart xxx</em>
</p><p>And she pressed send, before wondering if it was enough of a compliment. Surely she could be a little freer with her words after all that they’d now confessed to each other.</p><p>
  <em>And beautiful 😍 xxx</em>
</p><p>Just as she sent the additional message, Chloe replied to her first compliment (🤓 <em>xxx</em>) before quickly replying to her second (😍😘 <em>xxx</em>)</p><p>Beca hadn’t ever been one for romance or grand gestures. She hadn’t ever been one for much affection or even subtle hints. But embarking on a romance with Chloe, Beca already felt like a completely different woman. So with that she quickly sent another text:</p><p>
  <em>Fancy a second date tonight? 😘 xxx</em>
</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe’s heart skipped a beat when she read Beca’s question, and smiling she bit down hard on her bottom lip while hastily texting a reply:</p><p>
  <em>A thousand times yes 😍 xxx</em>
</p><p>Then promptly added in another text:</p><p>
  <em>I can’t wait to kiss you again 🙊 xxx</em>
</p><p>Chloe swallowed loudly, waiting anxiously for Beca’s reply. She couldn’t quite explain why, but for some reason any time she was affectionate towards Beca, either physically or verbally (or in this case digitally) she always found herself holding her breath as dread built in her chest. Chloe always anticipated rejection from Beca. Or at the very least no affection in return. And even though Beca had declared <em>her</em> <em>love</em> for Chloe, the redhead still had a difficult time getting her head around that truth.</p><p>
  <em>Not long now babe 😘 xxx</em>
</p><p>came the reply, and Chloe’s heart soared with joy at the pet name. And the emoji. And the three kisses at the end. Chloe had a hard time believing that Beca could possibly beat that text. But she was caught by surprise when less that ten seconds later another message from Beca popped onto her screen:</p><p>
  <em>Then I’ll kiss you sensless into next month 😘 xxx</em>
</p><p>The tiniest hint of a ‘squee’ left the back of Chloe’s throat, her grin broader than it ever had been before as she stared at Beca’s words over and over again. Beca was <em>wanting</em> to kiss her. And not just the once. She was wanting to do it all month if she could.</p><p>If this pandemic was as bad as the worlds media seemed to be suggestion, then Beca and Chloe would be kissing in quarantine for a lot longer than just a few weeks. And Chloe couldn’t wait.</p><p>———</p><h2>‘Project Bhloe WhatsApp Group’</h2><p><b>Lilly</b>: Chloe’s sneakers are at the bottom of the pool…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was hustle and bustle between the kitchen area and dining area of the large house as The Bellas set the breakfast things up. Stacie looked over from the fridge, grinning as she watched Chloe sat at the dining table, her hand propping her head up. And it was no wonder, Stacie thought to herself, given that Chloe had been awake all night on a date with Beca.</p><p>The brunette felt a familiar tug on the leg of her pyjama pants, and she looked down to see her daughter’s big green eyes looking up at her. “Mamaaa?” the little girl said, “Can I take mooore?”</p><p>“Yeah, uh…” Stacie delved into the fridge and grabbed the butter dish, taking it with both hands and turning back to her daughter, “Here. But hold it very carefully with two hands okay?” Bella was clumsy, but Stacie still tried to give the little girl opportunities to erase her clumsy reputation. Bella’s expression turned serious, and she nodded before sticking her tongue out and concentrating hard on holding the butter dish with both hands. “Take it over to Aubrey.”</p><p>Stacie watched as her daughter slowly made her way carefully over to the blonde who was lining up the placemats on the table with military precision. A soft smile remained on her face, loving the way her girlfriend looked at her daughter so adoringly. Yeah, the whole ‘Beca and Chloe thing’ had taken her by as much surprise as it had the rest of The Bellas. But Stacie knew how awesome it felt to share reciprocated feelings for someone who had been a friend long before a being lover. She wanted Chloe to be able to enjoy this time with Beca and Beca to be able to enjoy this time with Chloe. Exciting times. Times that you dream of.</p><p>The woman winced when suddenly a loud crash sounded and she immediately looked to her daughter who had a guilty expression on her cute little face.</p><p>“Oops.” was all Bella said, watching as Aubrey assured her she didn’t need to worry before stopping down to pick up the pieces.</p><p>Stacie noticed the way Chloe hadn’t seemed to have snapped out of whatever daydream she was currently in, the redhead sat with her head propped by her hand, her eyelids heavy and her face pale, but a soft smile across her mouth all the same.</p><p>The Bellas had come up with a plan of course. As it stood, all Bellas save for Fat Amy and Beca were currently in the main living space of the house, split between the dining table and the kitchen area. Flo, Cynthia Rose, Jessica and Ashley were cooking and/or working on the presentation of the food about to be served for breakfast. Lilly was chopping food that was needing to be cooked (chopping in a very skilled manner it had to be noted). Aubrey, Stacie, and Bella were setting the table. And both Chloe and Emily were sat at the table, Emily on her phone and Chloe daydreaming.</p><p>The plan was for Emily to text Fat Amy (in the Bhloe WhatsApp Group) when Chloe was heading to the bedroom to get Beca for breakfast. Fat Amy would then go into the en-suite of the bedroom before Beca woke and Chloe arrived, giving the two lovebirds the impression they were alone. Then Fat Amy would recount via the Bhloe WhatsApp Group what was going on between Beca and Chloe at that very moment. It was <em>perfect</em>.</p><p>“Food is ready in two minutes!” Flo called out - a planned line which was code for ‘<em>Food is ready in five minutes but we need to give Chloe time to get to Beca and for us to spy on them before breakfast is <b>actually</b> ready</em>’. Emily began texting the WhatsApp group to give Fat Amy the heads-up.</p><p>“Could somebody please fetch Beca for breakfast?” Aubrey asked in a stressed tone, pretending that she was too busy to undertake that task, and purposefully <em>not</em> including Fat Amy’s name in the hope that Chloe wouldn’t notice that the Australian wasn’t present.</p><p>Stacie tried to hide her smile when she saw Chloe practically levitate out of her chair to volunteer. But before the redhead could say anything, Stacie heard her daughter pipe up:</p><p>“My go!”</p><p>The Bellas (apart from Chloe) all stopped, looking at each other in stunned silence as Bella began to skip away from Aubrey and past the kitchen area. Well they hadn’t expected that curve ball. Stacie, in a moment of panic, lunged for her daughter, and grabbed a fistful of the back of Bella’s pyjamas, pulling the kid to a stop. Bella looked up at her mother with a frown.</p><p>“Sweetheart, I think Auntie Chloe was going to go.” Stacie said with her eyebrows raised, wishing her daughter wasn’t so young that she could pick up on subtle hints. But Bella just blinked back, confused.</p><p>“No it’s okay.” Chloe said across the room to Stacie, her tone sounding a little disappointed, “If Bella wants to g-”</p><p>“No-no!” Stacie insisted, scrambling in her head for a coherent excuse, “Beca likes you. She <em>tolerates</em> Bella. I’m sure she’d prefer you to wake her up.”</p><p>The Bellas all nodded in agreement, and had Chloe not been so tired she would’ve been suspicious of how manic those nods had looked. So the redhead simply shrugged, and slowly headed away from the dining area, past the kitchen area, and through to the hallway that would lead her to Beca’s bedroom.</p><h2>Project Bhloe WhatsApp Group</h2><p><b>Emily</b>: Chloe’s on her way!!</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Now in the en-suite 😎</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe paused outside the bedroom door, her stomach swirling with excitement, and she bit her bottom lip between her teeth while she smiled. Taking a deep breath and holding it, the redhead slowly nudged the door open and stepped into the room. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the petite brunette fast asleep, surrounded by a mishmash of couch cushions. By the looks of things Beca had fallen asleep with her phone in her hand because the device was now on the floor beneath the woman’s hand (which would explain why Chloe hadn’t had a reply from her after a while). And it also looked as though she’d not been able to get too comfy - hence why Beca was mostly laying on the hard floor with only her upper body on a cushion, essentially in a weird mushroom position.</p><p>Chloe tried to stifle a chuckle, bringing her hand to her mouth while she slowly crept over to Beca. She assessed the situation, wondering what the best way to wake the woman was. Kiss her? Shake her? Speak to her? Just lay beside her until she woke? She got sown on her knees beside Beca and reached out.</p><p>Beca roused from her deep sleep with a nudge on her shoulder over and over. She let out a grunt, inhaling deeply before exhaling an audible groan of protest, “Fuck <em>off</em> Bellaaaaa!” she grumbled under her breath, too tired and not in the slightest bit ready to accommodate an excitable three year old at <em>any time </em>of the morning.</p><p>“Wow.” came a familiar voice, “Don’t let Aubrey hear you swear like that around Bella..”</p><p>“Shit.” Beca’s eyes flung open and she immediately tried to sit up in her groggy state, rubbing her eyes as she did so, “Sorry, I didn’t realise it was you.”</p><p>“Good morning to you too.” Chloe replied in an amused tone, a soft smile on her face. She’d missed the sight of a groggy Beca. Back in Brooklyn, between two and four years ago, they both had to share a bed in the pokey studio apartment they’d shared with Fat Amy because there’d been no room for three beds. Across those years (the years that Chloe was adamant had been the best years of her life) she’d had the pleasure of seeing a ‘first thing in the morning’ Beca almost every day. And Chloe had adored every second of it.</p><p>She watched as Beca finally sat up properly and upon looking at the redhead with a smile, let out a calm content sigh, “<em>Good morning.</em>” was the whispered reply. They sat together, smiling softly, looking at one another and enjoying the idea of a fresh new day now as…<em>girlfriends</em>?</p><p>“How did you sleep?” Beca asked in a broken voice, still trying to wake up properly after what was likely only an hour of sleep maximum.</p><p>“I don’t think I did.” Chloe admitted in a tired voice of her own, and Beca hummed.</p><p>“I’m wondering if I’d feel less tired if I hadn’t fallen asleep at all either.”</p><p>“Maybe.”</p><p>“Dare I ask what activity it is this morning?” Beca asked, looking highly unenthused at the idea of <em>any</em> activity other than going back to sleep. Chloe shrugged in response, bringing a hand up to pick some dry sleep-gunk from the corner of her eye.</p><p>“It’s not gonna be sleep, that’s for sure.”</p><p>“Pity.” Beca mumbled, and Chloe smiled.</p><p>“Definitely a pity.”</p><p>They fell silent, their hands having now found each other, and their respective thumbs smoothed gently over the back of the others hand.</p><p>“<em>I had a really nice time last night</em>.” Chloe whispered, her smile broadening as Beca’s tired face opened into a wide grin.</p><p>“<em>Me too</em>.”</p><p>They slowly drew their faces closer to one another, their eyes fluttering closed. And with a deep breath, they shared a soft kiss. A soft kiss that broke abruptly when a flat palm was heard smacking once against the outside of the bedroom door and the two women turned to see Bella tumbling into the room with a mischievous grin on her face.</p><p>Chloe cleared her throat awkwardly while both she and Beca released hands, though they remained sat close, neither too concerned that Bella would be suspicious. Until..</p><p>“Are you Auntie Chloe’s <em>girlfriend</em> now??” The little girl asked, blinking at Beca innocently with her bright green eyes.</p><p>“Uh..” Beca began, looking from Bella over to Chloe, hoping to gain an idea of whether Chloe would deem it appropriate to tell the kid the truth. But Chloe simply looked back at Beca, equally conflicted. Fortunately, Bella was fairly impatient.</p><p>“Cause you said you want to kiss her and you just did.”</p><p>Beca watched as a coy smile spread across Chloe’s face. Well this was an unconventional way of confirming their relationship status, but perhaps it was the opportunity they needed?</p><p>Chloe watched in delight as Beca smiled affectionately at her before turning to the two and a half year old and nodded, “Yeah little dude. I’m Auntie Chloe’s girlfriend now.”</p><p>The little girl seemed beside herself with excitement at the news, and began hopping up and down on the spot from one foot to the other. Both Beca and Chloe brought their hands up to try to calm Bella down. Not only was this all really new for them, but they also wanted to keep it somewhat of a secret while they tried to work out what being each other’s girlfriend in quarantine would mean..</p><p>“Bella, you can’t tell anyone okay?” Chloe said in a quiet tone, as though the rest of the house would hear. Her eyes kept darting to the open bedroom door just in case. But fortunately nobody much sounded like they’d followed Bella down here.</p><p>“You can’t tell them that we’re girlfriends.” Beca emphasised seriously. Bella just looked back at them blankly, which caused the two women to panic a little. Did she understand? <em>Didn’t</em> she understand?</p><p>“It secret?” Bella asked hesitantly and both Beca and Chloe’s faces lit up in relief. She got it - their secret was safe for now.</p><p>“<em>Yes</em>!” Chloe hissed with a smile and Bella seemed thrilled to be in on a secret with two of her favourite Aunts.</p><p>“You got it kiddo!” Beca gushed, raising her hand to offer a ‘high five’ to the little girl and Bella brought her hand up to high five Beca enthusiastically. “You can’t tell anyone we kissed either, okay?” she added clearly, and Bella nodded seriously.</p><p>“Okay.” she replied.</p><p>“Okay.” Beca concluded, slowly making her way up to her feet as Chloe did the same. Bella smiled brightly, skipping over to the bedroom door while Beca took Chloe’s hand and discreetly held it behind her back, out of sight of the little girl.</p><p>“You lead the way, Bells.” Chloe advised kindly, and Bella did exactly that, jumping out of the room and heading down the hallway, waiting for her Aunts at intervals to make sure they were following her.</p><p>“Now we know what being parents feels like.” Beca mumbled within earshot of Chloe, squeezing the redhead’s hand as they left the room, “Never getting time alone together because our kid keeps interrupting us.”</p><p>It was a sweeping comment, but one that stuck with Chloe and had the redhead smiling gently. Because Beca had insinuated that if things continued to go well between them for the foreseeable future, she would also accommodate Chloe’s dream of having children one day..</p><p>———</p><h2>Project Bhloe WhatsApp Group</h2><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: WHO THE HELL LET BELLA THROUGH??</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Bella’s there?!</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Yes!!</p><p>Stacie let out a groan while she read the group chat messages as each one pinged through. She looked up and around to see that sure enough, her daughter was nowhere to be seen. Aubrey let out a tut and began making her way out of the kitchen area and towards the hallway that would lead her to the bedroom that Bella, Beca and Chloe were in.</p><p><b>Stacie</b>: Aubrey’s on her way to get Bella</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Wait!!</p><p>The Bellas in unison hissed a harmonised “Wait!” to Aubrey, stopping the woman in her tracks, and she looked over her shoulder in confusion. Stacie motioned for her to return to the kitchen area and she did, peering over Stacie’s shoulder at the woman’s phone to see why:</p><p><b>Fat Amy:</b> Bella’s asking if Beca is Chloe’s girlfriend yet</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: They’re not answering</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: They’re just looking at each other</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: BECA’S JUST SAID YES!!!</p><p>The Bellas let out small squees of excitement, looking up from their respective phones to grin at each other. Who would’ve thought <em>Bella</em> of all people was their best ‘spy’.</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: OMG amazing.. they’re asking Bella to not tell any of us 😂</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Bella looks so confused 😂</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: She’s promised</p><p>Stacie snorted, her thumbs dancing quickly across her phone screen to write a reply:</p><p><b>Stacie</b>: HA! Bella’s the worst secret keeper!</p><p><b>Stacie</b>: We’ll know within the hour 😂</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: They’re heading through!!</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: I’ll be through in a minute</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: I’m starving!!</p><p>The women in the living area snapped their attentions from their phones and continued the finishing touches on the breakfast just as Bella skipped through to the dining table with a smile on her face.</p><p>“Alright there sweetheart?” Stacie asked Bella curiously, stepping over Aubrey who had resumed obsessing over picking up every piece of the broken butter dish (even though it was mostly cleared up). Bella began pulling out a chair as best as her little arms would allow, preparing to clamber up onto it.</p><p>“Yep!” Bella replied, and Stacie noticed Beca and Chloe entering the living space separately. Beca looked even more shattered than Chloe, which was hardly surprising if the petite brunette had actually managed to fall asleep. A tiny bit of sleep was often worse than no sleep.</p><p>“Auntie Beca and Auntie Chloe aren’t girlfriends.” Bella said firmly to her mother. The Bellas all glanced at each other, trying to hide their smirks while Beca and Chloe cleared their throats awkwardly as they took their seats side by side at the breakfast table.</p><p>“Okay sweetheart.” Stacie replied, pretending as though what her daughter was saying was the most ridiculous thing on the planet, even though she knew it was the opposite. She just didn’t want Beca and Chloe to feel uncomfortable during these early days.</p><p>“And they didn’t kiss.”</p><p>If it wouldn’t be frowned upon to kick a three year old then Beca would’ve kicked Bella’s shin very hard to try to get the kid to shut up. This was the complete flip-side of playing it cool! Fortunately she heard a mild chuckle fall from Chloe’s mouth, and she glanced briefly at the redhead to see Chloe smiling in amusement at Bella who was looking at her mother very seriously.</p><p>“Good to know.” Stacie said to Bella, busying herself with piling up the freshly baked bread rolls onto a serving dish that was in the middle of the table. Beca assumed that Bella told her mother fibs quite often, which was probably why Stacie didn’t appear to be making a big deal of Bella’s oddly worded statements.</p><p>Beca and Chloe’s attention was drawn to Fat Amy who strode through from the hallway and their stomachs dropped.</p><p>“Morning.” Fat Amy said in a breezy tone, reaching out to grab a bread roll and taking a bite from it while finding her seat.</p><p>“Where were you just now?” Beca asked almost accusingly. Amy just blinking back innocently at her, shrugging.</p><p>“In the en-suite.”</p><p>Beca and Chloe swallowed loudly. She’d been in the en-suite? Had she heard them? Had she heard their conversation? Did she know about them?? But Amy didn’t tease them or show any sign of wanting to tease them.</p><p>So as The Bellas all settled down for breakfast, Beca and Chloe were left wondering how many people at the dining table suspected they’d started dating. And if none of them did, then how long could they keep things a secret as long as Bella knew for sure..?</p><p>Unbeknownst to the two lovebirds, The Bellas knew. But none of them wanted to spoil things for the two women they knew had wanted to date for so long before now. So for now, they were happy to play the fool and give them as much opportunity as possible for some alone time together.</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chloe tugged her bottom lip between her teeth as she slowly made her way along the grass with bare feet. Her index and middle fingers of her left hand boasted two bandaids, and she was still sleepy. But she’d definitely enjoyed the ‘paper cutting’ activity that Emily had instructed The Bellas on. Well..not <em>all</em> of The Bellas. And it was the missing Bella that Choe was now approaching.</p><p>Beca sat upright on her favourite sun lounger, trying her hardest not to fall asleep under the parasol that was shading her pale skin from the boiling morning LA sun. She frowned intently at her MacBook screen, trying to make an email of reply to her management team sound reasonably coherent. But it was difficult when she felt so tired. She’d long ditched her sunglasses, quickly realising that wearing them and the darkness they brought to everything she looked at, just contributed to her tiredness.</p><p>“Didn’t feel like paper cutting?” Chloe asked in an amused tone as she plonked herself down on the sun lounger, beside Beca’s knees. The brunette looked up at her with a tired smile, but Chloe could tell by the woman’s body language and the sparkle in Beca’s eyes that she was pleased to see her.</p><p>“Got an email from work about what they’re wanting me to do during lockdown.” Beca grumbled, flapping her hand casually at her screen, “Trying to write a reply that’s a polite version of ‘fuck off’…”</p><p>Chloe let out a light chuckle, looking down at her hands in her lap. She enjoyed the feel of being sat so close to Beca. Her lower-back pressing against Beca’s leg. Beca not moving away.</p><p>“Did you wanna hang out this afternoon?” she asked in an optimistic tone, no longer feeling so cautious about broaching the subject of a one-on-one interaction given all the secrets they’d revealed to each other overnight. But to her surprise, Beca’s mouth went askew.</p><p>“Ah. I’d love to - <em>really</em> love to - but…” Beca paused to let out a huff of a sigh which wasn’t helping Chloe’s confusion. Did Beca not like her as much as she thought? Or was she just taking things too quickly for Beca? Would the woman rather Chloe slow down a few gears and just wait for Beca to prompt their next get together? “I’ve got a deadline by this evening <em>and</em> I’ve got a Teams meeting with my Management lot at 1pm and…I just can’t stop my job because we’re in quarantine, you know?”</p><p>Chloe shrugged, smiling softly, “It’s okay.” she replied, and really meant it. It <em>was</em> okay. She was stupid for forgetting that Beca still had a massive career. One that didn’t need to stop just because the world was in lockdown. In fact, Beca’s reason reminded Chloe that she should probably check her own emails, just in case her college had contacted her about her ‘lockdown studies’. “I could always sit with you? Or near you? I wouldn’t distract you, honest!”</p><p>But Beca’s shoulders slumped, moving her MacBook to the side to show Chloe she was giving her her full attention, “Yeah but you <em>would</em> distract me, Chlo. Not on purpose. But I’d really struggle to keep my eyes and hands off you.”</p><p>“Like now?” Chloe asked with a grin, enjoying the feel of Beca’s right hand fingers sweeping delicately up and down her right arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps across Chloe’s skin in their wake. Beca stopped the second she realised what she was doing and rolled her eyes.</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>“What about after your meeting?” Beca mouth contorted again, and Chloe could tell she was battling with something internally, so she added, “I always used to sit in the studio with you while you mixed back in New York? You never minded then?”</p><p>“Yeah but that was before I could <em>kiss</em> you!” Beca tone had a bit more of a whine to it and that was when Chloe could tell she wasn’t going to win this one. She’d have to find some other way to spend her afternoon.</p><p>“Please don’t be mad.” Beca added in a small voice and the obsurduty of Chloe being mad about something that really didn’t warrant being mad over made the redhead chuckle.</p><p>“I’m not mad.” she insisted with a sweet smile, “You’ve got to do your work.”</p><p>She glanced around them, looking as far as possible. Over to the house, over to Lilly’s treehouse, over to the far end of the yard. Nobody could be seen. So Chloe quickly whipped around and placed a quick firm kiss on Beca’s lips. The grin on Beca’s face when Chloe leant back was one in a million.</p><p>“I’ve been thinking about your lips since we said goodnight.” Beca admitted, her hands having returned to Chloe’s arm, gently caressing it slightly. Chloe blushed, smiling, still a little stunned that the two of them talking so intimately was okay. That it was what was expected. After all, they’d professed their <em>love</em> for each other.</p><p>“I feel like we’re living on borrowed time.” Chloe confessed with a chuckle, grinning as she noted just how close Beca’s face was to hers, the woman having sat forward to be closer to her. Beca’s expression switched to a look of curiosity and mild confusion.</p><p>“How do you mean?”</p><p>“Well quarantine isn’t going to last forever.” Chloe explained, and Beca’s hands slowly pulled away from her arm, “At some point I’ll have to return to college and you’ll have to return to the rat-race of fame and fortune. Then we’ll lose touch again.”</p><p>Her tone was quiet. A little sad but mostly firm. Some might confuse it with being weirdly optimistic. Optimistic because most of her was crying out for Beca to defend them. To insist that actually they <em>could</em> make it. Even after quarantine. That the world in general would never be the same once the threat of a worldwide pandemic ‘calmed’. But to her disappointment, Beca sat back in her sun lounger and nodded slightly.</p><p>“Yeah…I guess you’re right.”</p><p>Chloe nodded gently too, her smile dropping. Oh this was sad. Really really sad. They’d only just started something exciting and fresh and wonderful and now…now there was a hypothetical storm looming in the distance. Threatening to break them apart before they’d even really got started. Unless…</p><p>“That doesn’t mean we can’t keep this going for now though, right?” Chloe suggested, motioning between them. And for the first time in a long time, she couldn’t quite read Beca’s change in expression. The brunette’s eyebrow quirked, and her chest heaved with a heavy sigh.</p><p>“Yeah that’s true.” Beca agreed, sitting forward again, a sad smile on her face, “We could just carry on like this and just…finish when the city is no longer on lockdown.”</p><p>Chloe’s heart felt heavy but she nodded all the same, her smile returning with a sad side to it. Beca wasn’t defending them. Wasn’t even going to entertain the notion of them continuing, even if it would be long distance. She wasnt even sure she wanted to sit with Beca right now, and she quickly decided to return to the rest of The Bellas, just so she could get her head around what had been agreed between herself and Beca.</p><p>“I’d better leave you to your email.” Chloe said, rising to her feet. To her surprise she felt Beca take her hand and she remained stood on the spot, looking down at the brunette’s uncertain expression.</p><p>“We’re okay, right?” Beca checked, and Chloe nodded, forcing her smile to grow wider.</p><p>“Oh totes!” she lied, and once Beca gave her a purse-lipped smile, Chloe slowly walked away towards the house, her stomach twisted and her chest feeling tight. Now they really <em>were</em> on borrowed time.</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fat Amy wasn’t exactly self-professed at picking up on body language. Wasn’t the best at interpreting someone’s tone and whether she should stop talking or should leave an uncomfortable situation because she was only making it worse. But right now, the Australian was definitely picking up a vibe from Chloe.</p><p>The woman peered across a cluster of uncooked pastries, flour up her arms while her hands remained on her hips, rocking from side to side while Flo attempted to explain to all The Bellas around her the exact reason why certain pastries needed to be left in the oven for an exact time. But Amy wasn’t listening. Instead her focus remained on Chloe.</p><p>The redhead, for some reason, was stood staring down at the pastries with glazed eyes, her expression somber. And while Amy wasn’t great at sensing the vibe of a room or person, she absolutely could tell that Chloe was unhappy about something. And Amy knew it was probably because Beca wasn’t with them this afternoon during the ‘baking’ activity..</p><p>“I’m going to the bathroom.” Amy mumbled to Aubrey, who frowned, shushing her sternly while continuing to concentrate on listening to Flo’s clear instructions and advice. Amy, having always been used to Aubrey’s unnecessary sharpness, just wandered away from the group nonplussed.</p><p>Fat Amy didn’t usually knock on a door before entering a room. Especially when she knew who was on the other side. Yet when she arrived outside Beca’s studio door, she found her hand rising outwards to knock firmly in a rhythmic manner. She couldn’t hear any movement inside, but just as she was reaching for the handle, the door to Beca’s studio flung open a few inches, and the brunette’s face appeared in the available space.</p><p>“You’re sweaty.” Fat Amy blurted suspiciously with a furrowed brow. The brunette’s eyes squinted right back at her.</p><p>“So are you.”</p><p>“Yeah but I’m <em>always</em> sweaty. You aren’t…”</p><p>Beca let out a heavy sigh, rolling her eyes impatiently, “What’s up?”</p><p>“Chloe seems pretty miserable.” Amy replied, “I was wondering if you guys had had a falling out.”</p><p>Beca moved her gaze from the Australian awkwardly, before returning, “No.”</p><p>“Oh.” Fat Amy shifted her weight from one foot to the other, “How <em>are</em> things going between you and Chloe?” she checked, noticing the way Beca took a deep breath and forced a smile on her face.</p><p>“Yeah it’s going okay.” Beca replied, then her smile quickly dropped, “Uh…as <em>friends</em>. We’re going okay as friends.”</p><p>Silence fell upon them as the blonde just blinked at Beca, wondering whether she’d spill the tea if made flustered enough. She could definitely see Beca swallow loudly. But the woman didn’t budge. So after several seconds Amy ventured further into questioning.</p><p>“So you <em>haven’t</em> told Chloe how you feel about her and that’s <em>not</em> why you guys hung out overnight instead of getting some sleep that you two both so obviously need now?”</p><p>Amy delighted in seeing the colour drain from Beca’s face as the brunette shuffled on the spot, keeping the door to her studio as closed over as possible.</p><p>“No.”</p><p>Beca’s reply was more of a grunt, her mouth barely opening, and Fat Amy’s eyebrows rose victoriously at the woman’s uncertainty in her answer. If Beca hadn’t been so tired and exhausted, she would’ve told Amy to leave right there and then, insisting that she was busy. But instead, she let out a tired sigh, her shoulders slumping.</p><p>“Fiiine.” she grumbled impatiently, “I told her I’m in love with her and she told me she’s in love with me too so- <em>don’t</em> make that face!”</p><p>Amy’s eyebrows rose again, feigning innocence. But inside her body was fit to burst with excitement. So they <em>had</em> revealed how they felt! Amy was thrilled!! She’d always hoped they would one day. It was obvious they both had a crush on each other.</p><p>“<em>Amyyy</em>…” Beca warned. She watched as the blonde continued her innocent look and she was becoming frustrated that her friend had caught her at a vulnerable time. She couldn’t afford to waste any more of the day on this conversation. She still had too much to do.</p><p>The interrogation continued, “So you two are dating now??”</p><p>“Yeah. No. Well, kinda.”</p><p>If Beca was being completely honest she had no idea any more what she and Chloe were. They’d classed last night as a date. This evening would hopefully be a date. But after that they were..what, friends with benefits? With an expiry date that would be set by the State in the coming weeks? And even then, what were the ‘benefits’? The traditional definition of the term was two people who were friends who had casual no-strings sex. But Beca and Chloe were <em>in love </em>with each other and both knew the others feelings. And they <em>hadn’t</em> had sex. So…what were they?</p><p>“Kinda?” Amy asked, wrinkling her nose in confusion, “What does <em>that</em> mean?”</p><p>Beca shrugged then let out a heavy sigh, her shoulders slumping again, “She’s suggested things can’t continue once quarantine is lifted. So we’re kinda dating for now in the house but…then we’ll stop when she is allowed to leave to go back to Davis.”</p><p>The brunette peered out of the door, looking left then right to check nobody was nearby. She was taken by surprise when Amy seemed to act completely selflessly for what seemed to be the first time in their friendship, when the blonde suddenly asked:</p><p>“And what do <em>you</em> want?”</p><p>Beca blinked, trying to take the question in. If she was truly honest, she had no idea what she wanted. Absolutely none. She wanted Chloe to be happy, that much was true. So if ‘breaking up’ after lockdown was what would make Chloe happy then Beca would be okay with that. She’d <em>have</em> to be okay..</p><p>“I dunno.” she admitted honestly, “It’s only been like twenty four hours. I hadn’t really thought that far.”</p><p>“Do you want to marry her?”</p><p>“Wh-What??” That had escalated quickly. Typical Amy, catching Beca completely blindsided so that she was almost lost for words.</p><p>“Not like <em>now</em>-” Amy continued, as though it was obvious that was what she’d meant.</p><p>“-Amy..” Beca warned in a low voice, looking around to check that The Bellas hadn’t noticed the (absurd) conversation she and Fat Amy were now having.</p><p>“-but at some point-”</p><p>Beca quickly raised a hand as a (hopefully) physical way of stopping the woman from getting too carried away, and it seemed to work as Amy’s mouth snapped shut.</p><p>“Dude I don’t know if I <em>ever</em> want to get married!” Beca hissed, the words themselves taking her by surprise. But it was true, when she and Chloe had declared their love for one another last night, she hadn’t then gone on to envision their wedding or their future. When it came to her career progression Beca always had a five year plan in the back of her mind. But on a personal level Beca definitely lived day to day whenever friendships and relationships were involved. There were less disappointments that way. “My parents messy divorce was enough for me to know that I <em>never</em> want to become like them.”</p><p>“You don’t think you and Chloe would make it?” Amy asked in a sad tone, and Beca felt a little guilty. Amy always had had high hopes for her and Chloe, long before anything had been mentioned about a potential romance.</p><p>“Well no I-I think we probably <em>would</em>. I <em>hope</em> we would.” Beca paused, looking past Amy to stare at the wall opposite, imagining what it might be like to be married to Chloe. How perfect it would sound to be able to call Chloe her wife, and to hear Chloe calling <em>her</em> her wife. To see a wedding band on Chloe’s beautiful finger - perhaps engraved with Beca’s initials and the date of their wedding. The smile on Chloe’s face on their wedding day and each wedding anniversary.. <em>Perfection</em>.</p><p>“If it’s what she’d want then I’d marry her in a heartbeat.” Beca eventually concluded confidently, “But she wants to break up after quarantine so…”</p><p>“But you don’t <em>want</em> that.” Amy replied with a frown. She couldn’t work out why this was so challenging for Beca. They were in love with each other, they both knew that, so why were they delaying the inevitable? “You want to be her girlfriend, then spend the rest of your life with her.”</p><p>Another sharp exhale left Beca’s mouth and she looked up at Amy defeated. She was tired. And Amy was reading her far too well today.</p><p>“I know.” she mumbled in conclusion.</p><p>“So <em>tell</em> her.” Fat Amy insisted in an unusually kind tone, and a small smile crept onto Beca’s face when the woman added, “What’ve you got to lose?”</p><p>“Her friendship?” Beca suggested glumly, and that was when Amy’s hand shot out and landed heavily on Beca’s shoulder, her eyes boring into Beca’s intensely.</p><p>“She’s in love with you. You’ve got nothing to lose.”</p><p>Beca’s heart skipped a beat at the words that Amy was telling her directly. Intensely. And it seemed to be exactly what Beca needed to hear. Sure, the idea of talking about something so serious with Chloe seemed terrifying. But hell, they’d declared their love for each other before they’d been on a date. And it was all happening in quarantine. Nothing about this was normal, which is probably what made it a little less daunting than had they just been living their normal lives in a normal world.</p><p>“I’ll tell her tonight.” Beca confirmed, nodding once before taking a deep breath. She watched as Amy leaned back, taking her hand from Beca’s shoulder and grinning broadly.</p><p>“What’s <em>tonight</em>??” she asked, and Beca rolled her eyes. God there it was, a typical snoopy reaction from Amy. Clearly that was it for her empathy for now.</p><p>“Just another date Amy. That’s why I’m sweaty okay?” Beca explained, and when Amy furrowed her brow in confusion, she elaborated, “I’m building something.”</p><p>Amy’s eyes widened in curiosity and Beca felt her stomach sink. But instead of just barging into the studio - shoving past Beca and pushing the door open - Fat Amy looked at her optimistically.</p><p>“Need a hand?” she asked, and Beca hesitated for a moment. Amy kinda knew everything now. And Beca conceded with an extra pair of hands she’d probably manage to get finished quicker and have time to get showered and dressed before inviting Chloe on this date.</p><p>“…yeah okay.”</p><p>Amy, pleasantly surprised, waited for Beca to step aside. And step aside the brunette did, pulling the door open to invite Amy inside. The second the woman did, her mouth dropped open, stunned and impressed. Beca had done all this on her own?!</p><p>“Woah! Is this-”</p><p>“-Yep.” Beca interrupted, closing the door behind her and looking at her progress proudly.</p><p>“From Chloe’s favourite Netflix-”</p><p>“-Uhuh.”</p><p>“Wow.” Amy mumbled, her eyes taking everything in slowly, “Damn, Chloe’s one lucky girl.”</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chloe sat on the edge of the pool, watching her feet that swirled through the warm water. Her mind remained on Beca and only Beca. Her thoughts drifting from what their first date had been like last night to the conversation they’d had earlier to what their second date might be like. What life will be like when they have to break up at the end of quarantine. Then her mind turned to the future. A hypothetical one, where they’d stay together and get married and have kids and it’d be tricky to juggle because of their respective careers but it’d work because they’d make it work because they were in love and nothing would break that.</p><p>But Beca had disappointed her this morning by agreeing that yes, they should break up once quarantine was over. Which hadn’t been what Chloe had wanted to hear. She’d also asked that Chloe not sit in the studio with her this afternoon while she worked. And to make matters worse, Chloe found out late afternoon that <em>Fat Amy</em> had gone to Beca’s studio and was in there for over two hours.</p><p>So Chloe was hurt. Upset. Exhausted from the lack of sleep she’d had in the past 36 hours. And above all things she was confused. If Beca <em>did</em> love her then she had a terrible way of showi-</p><p>“Mind if I sit with you?”</p><p>The voice broke through Chloe’s daydream and her heart immediately skipped a beat when she connected the voice with its owner. She turned to see Beca stood beside her, still looking exhausted but with a coy grin on her face.</p><p>“I dunno.” Chloe replied in a serious tone, “I might <em>distract</em> you..”</p><p>It was a bit of a low-blow, to be letting Beca know in the most subtlest of ways just how hurt she felt. And the delivery of her sentence caused Beca’s smile to drop suddenly. There was a brief silence between them as Beca attempted to read Chloe’s body language.</p><p>“You can sit.” Chloe permitted, patting the space beside her. She looked down at the pool water while Beca took a seat beside her, dipping her own feet into the pool.</p><p>“Has something happened?” Beca asked cautiously, sensing Chloe’s disapproval, watching while the redhead looked ahead. Beca’s mind was swimming with possibilities of why Chloe would be mad with her, after all she <em>had</em> essentially ‘ditched’ her for the afternoon to work on something in the studio - which Beca quickly decided was the reason why Chloe seemed so frosty with her. In her defence, the woman had said it was okay. Perhaps it <em>hadn’t</em> been? Chloe seemed to mull over something before quickly turning to Beca with a serious expression.</p><p>“Why was it okay for Fat Amy to sit in the studio with you this afternoon but not me?”</p><p>Ah, there it was. The answer. Chloe was mad because of Fat Amy. And Beca could genuinely see why. Without knowledge of what Beca had been building in that studio, of course it seemed unfair that someone else be allowed in there with her but <em>not</em> Chloe. The redhead looked back out ahead of them with a huff of breath. But a tiny smile poked into the corners of Beca’s mouth.</p><p>“Have you considered that perhaps I was doing something for you this afternoon?” she baited, her heart warming at the sight of Chloe’s hesitation. The woman was intrigued, Beca could tell, “Something to prepare for our date that I didn’t want you knowing about so it was a surprise?”</p><p>Chloe slowly looked at Beca, the faintest hint of a curious smile on her face, “You’ve planned a surprise for me?”</p><p>“I know how much you like surprises.” Beca confirmed with a soft expression and a gentle nod while attempting to keep her hands from holding Chloe’s hand. Fat Amy knew that something was going on between Beca and Chloe. The other Bellas didn’t. And as a result, Amy insisted that she provide plenty of distraction for their friends so nobody noticed that Beca and Chloe were missing - which Beca gratefully agreed would help.</p><p>“When can I find out what it is?” Chloe asked with wide eyes, her smile slowly broadening as her heart raced with excitement. Beca was right, she <em>did</em> love surprises.</p><p>“Get some pjs on,” Beca began as she stood up, “and meet me at my studio in 20 mins.”</p><p>Chloe’s mouth hung open in pleasant surprise as Beca winked at her before turning away and heading back into the house. PJs? What they hell were they going to do that’d warrant PJs at 6pm??</p><p>———</p><p>The Bellas all looked up from the lounge area as Beca strode from the back of the house through to the main living area and over to the large patio doors that opened up onto the back yard. She looked exhausted, both physically and mentally, as she stepped outside and closed the door behind her.</p><p>The women sat upright, peering out of the window to see the petite brunette heading across to the pool where Chloe currently sat. While they smiled, Fat Amy trundled into the living area and over to her friends, letting out a tired sigh. The Bellas turned to her suspiciously.</p><p>“Where did you escape to?” Stacie asked in as curious tone and Fat Amy grinned, pulling her phone from her pocket.</p><p>“Beca’s built something for Chloe and she asked for my help.”</p><p>The Bellas looked to one another, knowing full well that of all the current inhabitants of this house, Fat Amy would definitely be the <em>last</em> person Beca would ask for help. But their eyebrows rose as the Australian showed them a photo on her phone.</p><p>“Is that from-?” Stacie began and Fat Amy interrupted with a wider grin.</p><p>“Yup!”</p><p>“And Beca did all that for Chloe??” Emily asked, her eyes wide in wonder.</p><p>“Yeeeeeup!” Fat Amy confirmed proudly.</p><p>“So Beca knows that you know about her and Chloe?” Cynthia Rose asked, and Amy shrugged.</p><p>“Obviously. I’m her best friend.”</p><p>“And she doesn’t know yet that <em>we</em> know about her and Chloe?” Aubrey checked and Amy simply nodded.</p><p>The Bellas all looked at each other with grins on their faces, passing the phone between them to get a better look of the photo that Amy has sneakily took. All until the door to the back yard opened and Ashley practically launched the phone from her hands, across the couches, into Fat Amy’s lap.</p><p>Beca wandered inside, looking as tired as she had done all day, and rather than heading over to her friends, she slowly moved in the direction of the hallway at the back of the house, calling out, “Still working in the studio guys! I won’t be around for dinner. Sorry!”</p><p>The Bellas all grinned as they watched the brunette slump out of sight.</p><p>“Working.” Stacie mumbled as Bella scrambled onto her lap, “Riiiiight.”</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe took a deep breath, bringing her hand up to the closed door of Beca’s studio, and knocked clearly three times. She fiddled nervously with the hem of her pyjama top. She’d spent far too much of her allocated twenty minutes trying to choose the nicest pair of PJs out of the five that she’d packed. By the time she’d picked it, she’d only had six minutes to do her hair and throw on some very basic make up. She felt scruffy and ugly - something that her exhaustion from no sleep didn’t exactly help - and she had half a mind to run back to her bedroom to check her appearance one more time.</p><p>But the second the door opened and Beca’s broad nervous smile, Chloe immediately relaxed. This was <em>Beca</em>. Beca who loved her and had seen her in far worse states over the years that they’d known one another. Beca who currently boasted heavy dark shadows beneath her eyes that were only enhanced by her pale skin. Little sleep did not suit the woman neither physically or mentally, but fortunately Chloe had many years of knowing that fact. So all she saw stood before her was Beca. <em>Her Beca.</em></p><p>“Come on in.” Beca burst, her heart racing so hard she feared it would explode from her chests she was so nervous. What if she’d got it wrong? What if Chloe hated it? What if this really wasn’t Chloe’s favourite show any more? A lot could happen in a year since it was released. Beca knew how quickly Chloe chopped and changed between favourite things. What if this was another thing?</p><p>Chloe’s mouth dropped open in shock as she stepped inside and her eyes honed in on a fully kitted out replica of ‘Scoops Ahoy Ice Cream Parlor’ from season 3 of Stranger Things. Not just her favourite TV show but from her favourite season and by far her favourite ‘set’ from that show. There were what looked to be over a dozen different flavours of ice cream all untouched on display behind a clear screen, jars and jars of toppings, crisp waffle cones, and the room was filled with the smell of hot chocolate fudge sauce.</p><p>“Beca I-I…” Chloe paused to let out a scoff of joy and disbelief. Beca had done all this for her??</p><p>“Do you like it?” Beca asked hopefully, wincing in anticipation of Chloe seeming confused. But the confusion didn’t come. Instead the redhead burst into tears, and Beca took a step back in shock while Chloe beamed at the installation.</p><p>“I <em>love</em> it!”</p><p>Beca let out a heavy breath of relief she hadn’t realised she’d been holding, and her body warmed with joy as Chloe grabbed her hand with both of her own.</p><p>“You did all this for me?” Chloe asked, looking to Beca as though she’d put the stars in the sky. Beca nodded.</p><p>“Well yeah. I remember you putting something on the Bellas group chat about how you were loving that season of Stranger Things.” Chloe looked back at the Ice Cream parlor in awe while Beca continued speaking, “And you said how you wished the ice cream parlor was real because it looked amazing.” Chloe nodded, because it <em>had</em> looked amazing. It <em>did</em> look amazing! “And then I saw on your Instagram that you’d dressed up as that girl from Stranger Things who worked there-” ‘Robin’. Chloe had dressed as ‘Robin from Stranger Things’ last Halloween at College. Beca had been on her Instagram? Beca had remembered all that?? “-and so I figured why not make your dream a reality and…build you this ice cream parlour for real.”</p><p>The room fell silent save for a low humming sound that presumably came from the open freezer that held the ice creams. Chloe was still stunned. Beca had done all this for her. That was why she’d not allowed her to hang out with her in the studio. It hadn’t been because Beca didn’t love her. It had been because Beca had wanted to <em>surprise</em> her. Because she’d been doing something <em>for</em> her.</p><p>Chloe sniffed, wiping her dripping nose with the back of her pyjama sleeve and she grinned at Beca once more, “I can’t believe you did all this for me!”</p><p>“Now you can see why you couldn’t sit with me this afternoon, right?”</p><p>“Definitely.” Chloe burst with a chuckle, glancing at the ice cream menu above the counter before realising something, “And Fat Amy helping you…” she said, turning to Beca curiously, “I’m guessing she knows about us?”</p><p>‘Us’. Beca had to admit, it was nice hearing Chloe call the two of them ‘Us’. As though this was more serious than just a ‘Quarantine fling’. As though they were girlfriends, and the fact they were girlfriends was serious enough to tell Fat Amy of all people.</p><p>“Yeeeeah.” Beca replied with a wince, “Sorry.” But fortunately Chloe just smiled softly.</p><p>“Don’t be.”</p><p>Beca felt her heart grow at the feel of Chloe’s hands gently squeezing her right hand, and she returned the soft smile. The two women slowly began walking towards the parlor installation, both excited - Chloe excited to try everything out, Beca excited to watch Chloe try everything out. The perfect second date.</p><p>“For what it’s worth,” Beca continued, “it’s thanks to Amy that we’ll get away with spending the evening together.” And Chloe furrowed her brow with a curious smile.</p><p>“How do you mean?”</p><p>“She’s offered to distract The Bellas all night so they don’t realise we’re both missing.”</p><p>———</p><p>“Oh, Legacy.” Fat Amy suddenly said over a large tub of ice cream. The Bellas all sat in the lounge area of the house, watching Legally Blonde on the massive TV, “I’m sleeping in Chloe’s bed tonight.”</p><p>Emily frowned, looking over at the Australian in confusion, “O-kaaay? Any particular reason?”</p><p>Fat Amy grinned and her long pause caused her friends to all turn to her curiously. She took great pleasure in announcing the last bit of ‘help’ she’d given Beca in the studio earlier.</p><p>“Because Beca’s moved the mattress of my bed into the studio ‘<em>for comfort</em>’.” she answered, her fingers assisting the quotation marks at the end of her sentence. The Bellas around her all squealed with delight.</p><p>“Beca and Chloe are gonna have sex!!” Stacie burst, her manic laughter turning into a cackle when a grinning Aubrey swiped at her arm. Little Bella Conrad echoed her mother’s final word (“Sex!!”) with a huge smile on her face, causing The Bellas to laugh even harder.</p>
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<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Beca watched on with a calm smile on her face as Chloe stood behind the counter of the ice cream parlour she’d built. A ‘Scoops Ahoy’ hat rested on the redhead’s head, the woman beaming as she tugged a large scoop of pistachio ice cream into the sundae bowl she held with her left hand.</p><p>“What other flavour do you want?” Chloe asked happily, and Beca let out a chuckle. If it was so easy to make her best friend this happy she would’ve done something like this ages ago.</p><p>“Whatever flavours <em>you</em> want.” Beca insisted. They’d promptly decided that they would share an ice cream sundae. Chloe had said it was in an attempt to not put on too much weight during quarantine. And Beca had not only insisted that she shouldn’t worry about what she looked down in quarantine because she’d look beautiful no matter what, but the brunette had also scored major points by adding that sharing a sundae would probably be pretty romantic. And Chloe, blushing, agreed that it would.</p><p>“This is all for you.” Beca reminded her, and she watched as Chloe tugged her bottom lip between her teeth before scooping some praline ice cream into the sundae bowl.</p><p>“So the dress code of pyjamas..” Chloe began, taking one large scoop of vanilla before heading over to the hot chocolate fudge pot, “that wouldn’t have anything to do with the giant mattress on the floor over there would it?”</p><p>Beca’s cheeks flushed pink at the assumption Chloe was making. The two things kinda went hand-in-hand. But it wasn’t for sex.</p><p>“Kinda.” she replied, watching while Chloe tried to hide her smile, “I figured we’re both so exhausted from the lack of sleep we had last night we might as well just tuck up in front of Netflix, share some ice cream, and see where the night takes us.”</p><p>Chloe’s eyebrows rose as she took a scoop of chopped nuts and sprinkled them over the sundae, followed by some rainbow sprinkles. This really <em>was</em> turning out to be a good date already. How was Beca so good at this??</p><p>The redhead briefly scanned the room and couldn’t quite work out where she and Beca were going to watch Netflix. Back in the days when they lived together with Fat Amy in a studio apartment in Brooklyn, Beca and Chloe would often tuck up in their shared bed, Beca’s laptop (the better laptop) resting on the mattress with Netflix on the screen. But other than the dormant computer monitors across the room from the mattress in this studio, Chloe couldn’t see any other way they could watch <em>anything</em>.</p><p>“You’re wandering where the screen is huh?” Beca said with an amused smile on her face, having observed Chloe’s thought process play out across her face. Chloe nodded, then watched as Beca strode over to a nearby chair and dragged it to the front of the ice cream counter. Chloe furrowed her brow with a curious smile on her face, slowly putting the sundae bowl down while Beca stepped up onto the chair.</p><p>“Did you want some help?” Chloe asked, but Beca continued without her, reaching her left hand high above her head. It was then that Chloe noticed the handle of a projector screen hanging from the ceiling.</p><p>“You’re like only two inches taller than me..” Beca began with a wince, stretching even further. And while she did so, Chloe slowly made her way around the counter, her eyes somehow finding their way to Beca’s bare abdomen that had been revealed when her pyjama top had ridden up whike she stretched.</p><p>“Yeah but those two inches could be of use.”</p><p>Beca let out one last loud wince before exhaling heavily, her fingertips finally catching the handle and she pulled at the screen.</p><p>“God knows how much this place costs,” Beca muttered, “but they couldn’t install a screen that mechanically lowered.”</p><p>Chloe let out a light chuckle, holding her hands out as the screen clicked into place. And Beca rested her palms on Chloe’s allowing the redhead to assist her clambering off the chair, even though she really didn’t need any help. Jumping down to land on the ground, the two women found themselves almost nose to nose, smiling gently at each other.</p><p>“<em>Hey</em>.” Chloe whispered, her hands having found their way to Beca’s hips without realising.</p><p>“Hey.” Beca mumbled in response, rocking slightly from side to side, the only way she knew how to calm her nerves without freaking out. She’d been dying to be this close to Chloe all day.</p><p>“Now what?” Chloe asked, her face drawing slowly closer to Beca’s, her eyelids becoming as hooded as the brunette’s. Beca’s arms hung over Chloe’s shoulders, taking a deep breath before replying in a low tone:</p><p>“Now we eat melting ice cream and tuck up in front of Stranger Things.”</p><p>She wanted to confront Chloe with a question. Wanted to ask if Chloe would actually change her mind about them. Wanted to know if Chloe wanted to be her girlfriend, and wanted to request that they <em>don’t</em> end this thing between them after quarantine. But Beca felt as though now wouldn’t be the best time.</p><p>“You hate scary shows.” Chloe said in confusion but Beca just shrugged.</p><p>“Yeah, but I love you.” came the reply from Beca’s mouth, and she enjoyed the blush that grew on Chloe’s cheeks while the redhead’s smile became coy, “So if it makes you happy to watch it, then I’ll be happy too. Honest.”</p><p>———</p><p>To say that Beca was crapping her pants was an understatement. She hated shows that were dark. And she particularly hated shows that were dark <em>and</em> supernatural.</p><p>She’d never seen Stranger Things before but just the promo posters around NYC back when the show had first become a hit had been enough for Beca to strongly decide that she would never watch a single episode of that show. Ever.</p><p>Yet here she sat, partly laid back on the mattress that rested on the floor of her studio, with Chloe who was smiling at the horror that was unfurling on the large projector screen before them. The soundtrack of Stranger Things was good - that was something Beca could definitely agree on. Retro. Catchy. But the dark atmosphere surrounding the plot? Terrifying. And not what she was wanting to watch at <em>any</em> time of day, but particularly not at night.</p><p>Thankfully she and Chloe had not only successfully finished their first sundae of the evening, but Chloe was now laid with her head resting on Beca’s stomach. The brunette stroked her fingers through Chloe’s red locks, concentrating on how relaxing the motion felt and trying to ignore anything happening on the screen.</p><p>Just as she was opening her mouth to brooch the subject of the two of them sharing something a bit more serious than a ‘quarantine romance’, Beca heard a light snore rumbling from the back of Chloe’s throat, and she froze. So not only was she totally exhausted and getting a dead arm, but she was also having to endure watching a scary TV show she really didn’t want to watch, <em>technically</em> on her own because Chloe was now asleep.</p><p>Beca used her free arm to reach for her phone that was connected to the projector and happily found something a little more calming. It was only 7pm. And yet, the idea of falling asleep right now after barely any sleep the past two days seemed like the greatest gift Beca could give herself.</p><p>As the soft dulcet tones of Bob Ross’s <em>The Joy Of Painting</em> began, Beca shifted her body slightly so she was laying a little flatter on the mattress. Chloe hardly stirred, and a sleepy smile swept across Beca’s face. What an odd second date. A (fortunately) successful surprise at the beginning, comfortably tucking up to watch Netflix, sharing some ice cream, but not sharing one single kiss, before falling asleep curled up together.</p><p>Within seconds Beca found her eyelids becoming heavy, and as she let out a large yawn, sleep finally overwhelmed her exhausted body. Her arms now rested comfortably around Chloe’s body. And they slept in each other’s arms for the first time in a couple of years.</p>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The soft low dulcet tone of Bob Ross played out around the dimly lit studio. Chloe took a deep sleepy intake of breath through her nose as she slowly awoke. She didn’t open her eyes right away. Instead she took a moment to try to connect the sound of the TV show with the warmth of a body pressed against hers while laying beneath a collection of blankets she’d never felt before.</p><p>Then Chloe gradually pieced everything together and a sleepy smile swept across her face as she slowly opened her eyes. There, curled up beside her, was Beca. Fast asleep.</p><p>Chloe’s heart soared, her stomach scrambling as she could feel herself becoming giddy with excitement. She’d fallen asleep with Beca last night for the first time since they’d both moved away from Brooklyn a couple of years ago. And Chloe had to admit, she’d really missed the sight of the brunette fast asleep. Beca always did this thing where her mouth would kinda droop open slightly and sometimes (only <em>sometimes</em>) a bit of drool would be slipping down to pool on the pillow. And this morning was one of those times.</p><p>This was Beca at her rawest and most vulnerable. Fast asleep without a care in the world. Her natural beauty shining through (though Chloe knew how insecure Beca felt without a drop of makeup on). Chloe was in love with her and attracted to her no matter what. And all that Beca had done for her these past couple of dates only fuelled that attraction.</p><p>Chloe bit her bottom lip, reaching out to gently curl a lock of Beca’s (often unruly by the morning) brown hair. The woman didn’t even stir, and Chloe wasn’t surprised. They’d both been pretty exhausted yesterday after staying up the night before.</p><p>Bob Ross continued to speak and paint in the background, and Chloe furrowed her brow for a moment, wondering how Netflix had changed from showing Stranger Things to an art show. Two rather different genres indeed.</p><p>Chloe peered over towards the screen but her eyes found the ‘Scoops Ahoy’ replica ice cream parlour instead, and a soft smile spread across her face. Beca really had gone above and beyond last night. Had remembered such a small insignificant detail like her favourite tv show, and had sourced a replica set for the two of them to experience together. And, Chloe thought to herself, an incredible thing to do considering Beca didn’t want them to continue this once quarantine was over. Chloe has barely contributed anything to their ‘isolationship’. But that didn’t mean she didn’t love Beca. Far from it.</p><p>Chloe immediately remembered the paper cutting she‘d done the previous day with the other Bellas. How she’d had nobody but Beca on her mind while she’d done it. She smoothed the pad of her thumb across the bandaid on her index finger, then the bandaid on her middle finger. The injuries had been worth it.</p><p>Sucking in a sharp intake of breath then holding it, Chloe slowly and carefully slipped off the side of the mattress, being careful not to wake Beca. She had to get her paper cutting. Had to give it to Beca to show her how much she meant to her. To try to make <em>some</em> sort of effort when Beca had already given so much.</p><p>Crouched down on the floor on her hands and knees, Chloe reached for her phone and checked the time. 5am. It was highly unlikely Beca would wake soon, so the redhead decided she had plenty of time to nip out of the studio, down the hallway, and into the room she shared with Emily, before quickly returning without Beca ever realising she’d been gone.</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe placed her hand on the door handle of her room and gently pushed it open with a ‘click’. The room was dark but not pitch black, and thanks to the dawn light peeping through the tiniest cracks framing the blinded windows, Chloe could see her route to her bed.</p><p>But as she quietly crept towards it, she was shocked to find a body sleeping in it. Fat Amy to be precise. What was she doing in here??</p><p>Then Chloe remembered that Beca had said that the mattress on the floor of the studio - that they’d been laying on during their second date - was actually from the large bed that was normally Beca’s but that Amy had been sleeping on since quarantine had begun. Ah..</p><p>Chloe crept to the side-table beside the bed, scrunching her nose up as she pulled a small draw open as quietly as possible. She froze suddenly as Fat Amy let out a sharp single snore, shuffling around in the bed in her sleep.</p><p>After a few moments, the redhead let out an exhale of relief, resuming her mission of finding the paper cutting she’d made yesterday - knowing it was inside the draw. She had no idea what she would’ve done if Fat Amy had caught her. No idea what she would’ve said that’d excuse her from why she wasn’t in bed.</p><p>Then it occurred to Chloe that the Australian probably wouldn’t accost her at all. Because Amy knew that she had been with Beca overnight.</p><p>With newfound confidence, Chloe quickly took her paper cutting, and quietly crept out of the bedroom to sneak back to Beca’s studio.</p><p>———</p><p>With a deep intake of breath through her nose, Beca came around from her heavy sleep, rubbing her face drowsily before shuffling a bit in the bed. As a raspy sigh fell from her mouth, she slowly opened her eyes, the smile that had begun to spread across her face suddenly dropping.</p><p>Nobody was in bed with her. Or rather, Chloe was no longer in bed with her.</p><p>Beca sat up suddenly, not meaning for the gasp within her to fall out of her mouth. Chloe had <em>gone</em>?? Why? She thought back on last night, wondering if she’d done something wrong. Had it all been too much for Chloe? The ice cream parlour and the flavours of ice creams all being Chloe’s favourite, and the timings of everything, and just falling asleep without so much of a kiss and-</p><p>Just as the brunette began pulling back the covers, she froze, watching as Chloe snuck back into the studio, quietly closing the door behind her.</p><p>“Oh thank God, there you are!” Beca blurted, her anxiety of the initial shock overwhelming her ability to act cool. She swallowed loudly as Chloe furrowed her brow. “Not…” Beca continued, hesitating while bringing a hand out, “…not that I was worrying that you’d left or-”</p><p>“-Did you think I’d done a runner?” Chloe asked with an amused grin on her face. Beca’s cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment, shaking her head, but Chloe saw right through her, “Beca for starters, where the hell would I run too?” her tone was light and showed hints of a chuckle as Beca sat back on the mattress once more, “And for another thing, you really think I’d want to leave such a cosy sleeping arrangement?”</p><p>“I uh..” Beca began, looking to the projector screen, trying to find the right words. Not that Bob Ross could help her right now.</p><p>“I went to get something.” Chloe explained kindly, not wanting to make Beca feel too uncomfortable, and Beca was relieved that she’d been interrupted. The brunette turned her head and watched curiously as Chloe slowly made her way back to the mattress, sinking down onto her knees while holding out a piece of paper with her right hand. “I made this for you yesterday.”</p><p>Chloe’s heart was in her throat as she watched a small smile poke into the corners of Beca’s mouth while the woman slowly reached out and took the cutting. What if she didn’t like it? What if it was too affectionate and romantic? ‘Sickly sweet’ as Beca used to call overly-romantic things that disgusted her. Would Beca break this off? Would she decide not to continue with this…<em>whatever</em> thing they had going on?</p><p>Beca was lost for words as she stared down at an incredible piece of paper. Shapes were carved out, leaving words written on paper:</p><p>
  <em>I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this</em>
</p><p>It was poetic. Not exactly as romantic as Beca was expecting. But it certainly described their relationship well. After all, there’d always been something burning away between them. For as long as they’d been friends. And had Chloe coming to stay here been an accident? Not exactly - it’d been Beca’s doing. But Beca falling for Chloe in the first place? Absolutely an accident. “<em>A happy little accident</em>” as Beca’s pal ‘Bob Ross’ would say with a chuckle. And she would agree with him. Because being in love with Chloe made Beca happy. Even if the idea of them parting eventually was like torture.</p><p>There were doodles scribbled all around the words. Beautiful doodles of the Empire State Building, of the Barden Bella’s Logo, of the Barden University crest, of Chloe’s favourite yellow cup and Beca’s pair of Beats headphones. Coffee cups and bagels (their favourite breakfast back in Brooklyn). A laptop screen with Netflix written on it. The Barden Bellas pitch pipe.</p><p>“God, Chloe this…” Beca paused, still taking it all in in awe, “…this is <em>incredible</em>.” she looked up at the redhead just as Chloe let out a sigh of relief, “You really made this for me?”</p><p>“Yeah.” Chloe confirmed in a soft tone, “I figured once this is all over and we have to go our separate ways.” she waited while swallowing loudly, successfully holding back her tears, saddened by the idea of being this close to Beca eventually coming to an end, “That at least you can look at this and remember us. You and me.”</p><p>Beca looked down at the paper, swallowing the lump in her throat. There it was again. Confirmation that they wouldn’t be taking this thing between them any further that quarantine. It made Beca’s heart hurt just at the thought. There was no point in asking Chloe if she wanted to become her girlfriend then. Even if it <em>was</em> just for a few weeks. Instead she should at least make an effort to embrace the gift.</p><p>“Do you mind if I pin it up by my Mac?” Beca asked, pointing her thumb across the room to her mixing desk and recording booth. Chloe nodded, a smile sweeping onto her face. “Cool. I won’t if you don’t want a pin being put in it..”</p><p>“It’s yours, Beca.” Chloe reminded with a chuckle, “You can set it on fire if you want to.”</p><p>“No way.” Beca replied quickly, sliding off the bed to head over to the pinboard, “No, this is definitely going to take pride of place. And, I’ll take a photo of it in a while so I can make it my phone lock screen photo.” Chloe’s heart warmed as she watched Beca step on her tiptoes to pin her creation up on the board, “That way I can be reminded of us every time I look at my phone.”</p><p>Chloe bit her bottom lip thoughtfully while Beca took a step back, hands on her hips while looking at the paper gift. What was Beca thinking? Was she imagining those days in the future when they’d no longer be something romantic towards each other? Did she <em>like</em> that future? Because Chloe had to admit, she herself didn’t. She <em>hated</em> the idea.</p><p>She was an ‘all in’ kinda girl. Had been for many years now. It was something she prided herself in. So right now, tottering anxiously on a thin tightrope trying to ignore the fact that sooner or later that tightrope would be snipped - quarantine would end and she would be expected to leave LA (and Beca) for good - challenged Chloe’s ‘all in’ attitude. How could she be ‘all in’ with Beca when Beca was so okay with everything ending at the drop of a hat, whenever the State decided to lift the lockdown?</p><p>Beca, meanwhile, was staring at the words on the paper cutting, wondering what they meant or were in reference to. Then her mind slipped to what Chloe had mentioned about their ‘thing’ ending once quarantine was over. With such a thoughtful and creative gift, was Chloe really willing to just let Beca go? Just like that?</p><p>“How was Fat Amy when she found out that we’ve started temorarily dating?” Chloe asked conversationally, wanting to cheer herself - and presumably Beca - up a little. She watched as the brunette grinned, the woman’s arms folding as she turned on the spot and slowly headed back to the mattress.</p><p>“Surprisingly mature.” Beca answered, her eyebrows risen while she remembered the woman’s reaction. Chloe was surprised too. Fat Amy. Mature? “Yeah.” Beca answered the unspoken reaction while settling back on the mattress and pulling the blankets over her and Chloe’s legs, “She seemed really happy for us and just wanted to help me set all this up for you.”</p><p>“<em>Wow</em>.” Chloe replied in a hushed tone, completely impressed as she looked out at the ice cream parlour replica behind the projector screen, “That’s kind of her. And very restrained of her too.”</p><p>“Oh don’t you worry.” Beca assured with a chuckle, her fingers now picking at her cuticles while she looked down at her hands, “She also asked if I wanted to marry you.”</p><p>A loud laugh burst from Chloe’s mouth, her eyes squeezing shut along with it.</p><p>“<em>What</em>?!” She cried out, a huge smile on her face as she turned to look at Beca. Her soul danced at the subject. It had only been a couple of days since they’d started something, but Chloe’s heart had belonged to Beca for almost as long as she’d known her, “And what did you say??”</p><p>Beca shrugged, looking back up at the screen but not really looking at it. Her heart was hammering away. She was nervous about the topic of conversation. But she had to be honest, “I said I wasn’t sure if I <em>ever</em> wanted to get married”</p><p>Chloe’s smile waivered, her heart sinking, “<em>Oh</em>.” it came out of her mouth in a quiet strangled tone. To say she was disappointed was an understatement. Beca didn’t want to ever get married. Not that it was a huge problem. Chloe would happily spend her life with Beca, unmarried, if it was what Beca wanted. Though Beca had already suggested that she didn’t want them to go on after quarantine..</p><p>“Well my parents’ divorce didn’t exactly paint an ideal picture of what marriage would be like.” Beca continued, glancing briefly at Chloe, not wanting to be reminded of her tense childhood with parents who really <em>hadn’t</em> had a happy marriage, “So getting married hasn’t ever really been in my life plan.”</p><p>The conversation fell silent as Chloe continued to look at Beca while the brunette looked back down at her hands. They’d known each other for almost ten years. Silence between them wasn’t awkward any more. Well…not <em>usually</em>. But for some reason it felt awkward right now.</p><p>Beca wanted Chloe to interject. To suggest that not all marriages failed and that if they were to get married they’d be the couple that‘d make it. That <em>they’d</em> be inspiration to others because their marriage would be the ideal collaboration.</p><p>Chloe wanted to give Beca time to expand on her explaination. She wanted the woman to eventually suggest that she might change her mind about marriage if the two of them decided to continue dating after quarantine.</p><p>But the silence went on with Netflix playing in the background, and soon Chloe couldn’t take the waiting game any longer:</p><p>“Why don’t we forget about this tense topic and just make out for a bit instead, yeah?”</p><p>A broad smile swept across Beca’s face as she turned to see Chloe looking at her hopefully.</p><p>“Make out?”</p><p>“Yeah.” Chloe confirmed with a shrug, her eyebrows suddenly rising as she added in a teasing tone, “Unless you don’t want to? We haven’t kissed in over twenty four hours so-”</p><p>Her sentence was cut short by Beca’s lips crashing into her own, and the two women let out light chuckles, both becoming giddy with excitement while Beca pushed Chloe backwards onto the mattress..</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I nominate Fat Amy!”</p><p>“Seconded!”</p><p>Ashley had her hand raised and unsurprisingly Jessica had shortly followed suit. The Bellas, sat around the beautifully laid breakfast table for a third morning in a row, looked at the duo then looked to Amy who was eyeing up the bowl of bacon that was ‘as far from Aubrey as possible’ because the woman was apparently attempting a vegan lifestyle (which Amy <em>still</em> couldn’t get her head around). The Australian furrowed her brow.</p><p>“Why do we need them to be here at all?” she challenged, “We can start without them.”</p><p>“Because if they don’t join us then we’ll eat breakfast <em>without</em> them and then they’ll know that <em>we</em> know about them.” Aubrey explained for the umteenth time. The plan was easy - keep Beca and Chloe from knowing that the whole house knew about their ‘isolationship’, save Beca and Chloe’s embarrassment, prolong The Bellas entertainment during quarantine. Simple. And fun.</p><p>Fat Amy looked at the group and blinked a few times before letting out a sigh of defeat. The sooner she got to Beca and Chloe to tell them that breakfast was ready, the sooner she could actually have some breakfast herself. Her shoulders slumped as she scraped her chair back and stood up.</p><p>“Fiiine.” she moaned, “But if I walk in on Beca and Chloe doing it, you’re gonna know about it.”</p><p>“Doing what?” a little voice piped up, and Amy didn’t notice the warning stare from Aubrey, nor the wince from Stacie, nor the grins from the rest of The Bellas.</p><p>The woman looked over at little Bella kindly, “Having s-”</p><p>“-SLEEPS!” Aubrey bellowed before Amy could finish the word ‘sex’. “Auntie Beca and Auntie Chloe are having sleepy-sleeps, Bells.”</p><p>The little girl looked up at her step mother in confusion, her brow furrowed, “Together?”</p><p>“Um…” Aubrey looked fleetingly at Stacie who was still wincing and giving her a shrug, so the blonde looked back down at the two and a half year old, “Uhuh?”</p><p>Fat Amy smirked, pacing away from the living area of the house and towards the hallway, just as Bella continued her curious enquiry, “Like you and Mama do?”</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe drew in a deep breath through her nose while her hands cupped Beca’s cheeks, lips pressed against Beca’s during a firm comfortable kiss. The two now stood at the foot of the ‘bed’ in the studio, Beca’s hands clasped at the small of Chloe’s back beneath pyjamas. They’d been making out on and off for the past couple of hours. Had broken that time up with occasional dozes in each other’s arms or sleepy chatter about nothing much at all. It had been a perfect lazy start to the morning.</p><p>“Guys it’s breakfast time.” A voice sounded at the exact same moment that the door to the studio opened and both Beca and Chloe gasped out of their kiss. Amy’s grin was broad, clearly thrilled by what she’d walked into.</p><p>Chloe felt her cheeks flush pink while Beca parted from her, the brunette responding with a curt “<em>Thanks</em> Amy.” which oozed mild irritation, and the Australian stood in the doorway clearly nonplussed.</p><p>“Do you want breakfast with the rest of us or do you want to cast suspicion by not appearing until later?” Amy asked rhetorically. Because the answer would be so easy. Of course Beca and Chloe didn’t <em>want</em> the Bellas to know about ‘them’ yet. Yet neither Beca nor Chloe knew that Amy had already told their friends..</p><p>Beca let out a sigh of defeat. She hadn’t wanted things to end quite as abruptly as they seemed to be ending right now. The second she left this room she would no longer be able to hold Chloe or kiss her or probably even <em>breathe</em> near her. She’d likely have to wait another excruciatingly long fourteen or fifteen hours until they were properly reunited. <em>Alone</em>.</p><p>“Maybe if one of you go first and I’ll hang here with the other?” Amy suggested, her eyes drifting to the large assortment of ice creams that she’d been dying to get her hands on since Beca had shown her them yesterday afternoon. “That way the girls won’t assume you were sleeping together last night.”</p><p>“Oh, Amy…” Chloe began.</p><p>“No we um…” Beca blurted awkwardly, talking over Chloe, “…we didn’t have,<em> you know</em>..”</p><p>Chloe fully expected Amy to smirk or grin, and wink very obviously at them, matched with a suggestive “Riiiiiiight” which they’d have to immediately dispute. But to her surprise, the Australian’s eyebrows simply knitted together, a look of confusion on her face.</p><p>“I didn’t mean sex.” she said bluntly, “I meant the girls would know you’ve both been sleeping in the studio.”</p><p>Beca swallowed loudly. She glanced fleetingly at the paper cutting Chloe had gifted her a couple of hours ago. Chloe <em>wanted</em> this. She <em>wanted</em> their ‘isolationship’ to be secret so that when quarantine ended they could go their separate ways. And as much as it broke her heart to constantly have to remember that fact, Beca wanted keep Chloe happy.</p><p>“I guess I could go through first and you guys come through a couple of minutes later?” she suggested, looking to Chloe to check the woman’s expression. Her eyes noted the redhead’s smile and nod of agreement. And her chest felt tight. It was a little too good to be true to think that Chloe would disagree and insist they walked through to breakfast together, hand-in-hand, heads held high as they proudly declared to their friends that they were in love.</p><p>In actual fact, that very idea had crossed Chloe’s mind the moment she’d seen Beca look over at the paper cutting just now. She’d hoped that the woman would suggest they just tell The Bellas, even if they both still only continued this <em>thing</em> between them until the end of quarantine. But no. Beca was going to go out there alone, followed a couple of minutes later by herself and Fat Amy. No suspicion caused. No rumours. No tiny opportunity for Beca and Chloe to chat about potentially becoming something more because their best friends are positive it’d be perfect and that the two of them were made for each other and would make it work and-</p><p>“Great. I’ll uh…” Beca paused, looking back at Chloe, “I’ll see you soon.”</p><p>Chloe watched as the woman slowly walked away and out of the studio, leaving herself and Fat Amy behind. Silence fell upon the room once more and Chloe rocked back and forth awkwardly, her hands clasped behind her back, fingers laced and knuckles white. She watched as Fat Amy slowly looked to her, and her stomach plunged.</p><p>Oh God. This was it. Amy was about to tease her. And what was worse, she was going to tease her <em>without</em> Beca.</p><p>Usually (as had been very common back in college and even the couple of years following), The Australian had taken great joy in teasing Beca about Chloe and Chloe about Beca, claiming the two were essentially “eye fucking” most of the time. Chloe had never really been able to work out what that’d meant. But <em>usually</em> that teasing had come with Beca present and had promptly been counteracted with a sharp reply from the brunette and/or a fierce eye-roll. And usually Chloe had just furrowed her brow with a bemused smirk while Amy had shrugged at Beca’s tone and wandered off.</p><p>But Beca wasn’t <em>here</em> right now. And it had Chloe becoming somewhat flustered. Could she hold her own?</p><p>“I think it’s time I addressed the elephant in the room.” Fat Amy said seriously, and Chloe practically gulped. Oh God. She had a bad feeling she was going to say the wrong things if Amy interrogated her too hard.</p><p>“Are you gonna eat any more ice cream or can anyone claim it now?”</p><p>Chloe’s mouth dropped open in shock. Of all the questions Amy could’ve asked, there was no way Chloe could’ve predicted it would’ve been about ice cream. So she blinked clearly three times, trying to comprehend what had been asked, all the while Amy stood by the door on tenterhooks. But eventually Chloe just grunted out a barely audible “Uhuh” while nodding a little <em>too</em> enthusiastically, such was her relief.</p><p>Fat Amy smiled broadly, striding over to the makeshift ice cream parlour with such speed it were as though she was trying to beat a hoard of hungry ice cream eaters to the front of the ‘queue’. Chloe, meanwhile, remained rooted to the spot in shock. Amy wasn’t interrogating her. Perhaps Beca was right? Perhaps Fat Amy <em>had</em> matured..</p><p>———</p><p>“There she iiiiis!” Cynthia Rose called out, and Beca’s cheeks flushed pink involuntarily as she stepped out into the living area of her house, looking over at The Bellas who all sat around the dining table that was set up for breakfast.</p><p>“Busy night?” Stacie asked with a grin, receiving a jab in the ribs from Aubrey’s elbow, “<em>Ah</em>!” she hissed, her brow furrowing.</p><p>Beca stopped abruptly, only a few feet from the table, and looked at each face of her friends that beamed over at her. Her shoulders slumped and she rolled her eyes while letting out a sharp exhale of frustration.</p><p>“Amy told you. Didn’t she.”</p><p>“Told us what?” Emily replied, her eyes wide and innocent looking. But Beca had known her friends long enough to know that they were all working <em>very</em> hard to look as innocent as possible. <em>They knew</em>. And Beca kicked herself internally for having ever thought Amy could keep such a big secret. She waited for someone to say something, but as the silence went on, she realised that <em>she</em> would have to be the one to confirm it.</p><p>“Amy told you about me and Chloe.”</p><p>She saw the way small smirks poked into the corners of most of her friends’ mouths. None of them looked surprised or as though this was brand new information, and her stomach twisted. For <em>fuck’s saaake </em>Amy.</p><p>———</p><p>“So…” Chloe began, her arms now by her sides. Her palms felt sweaty. She really wanted to find out a particular piece of information. “…I heard from Beca that you asked her if she wanted to marry me.”</p><p>She tried her hardest to keep her tone light, to force a chuckle from her mouth and a smile on her face, almost as though she was asking as part of a joke. But this wasn’t a joke. She wanted to check that Beca really <em>had</em> meant what she said when she’d said she didn’t want to ever get married.</p><p>“Oh.” Fat Amy looked up from the large ice cream sundae she’d just compiled, spoon in hand, poised ready to take the first mouthful, “Yeah.”</p><p>The confirmation was a little too short for Chloe’s liking and she watched on as Amy took a huge mouthful of ice cream, wincing slightly at the freezing dessert hitting her teeth.</p><p>“Did she…mention why?”</p><p>“Something about her parents not making it so she couldn’t see marriage ever working for her or something.” Amy replied, her mouth now full from a second spoonful of ice cream.</p><p>Ah. That was what Chloe had been expecting to hear. It was similar to the reason Beca had given her herself. Though a lot of her had been hoping Beca had just been lying. That Beca had actually told Amy something else.</p><p>Chloe looked at a large clock on the wall behind her. It must’ve been a couple of minutes by now. She should head through to the living area and sit with the rest of The Bellas. Try not to cry the second she saw Beca and instantly miss her-</p><p>“But in fairness, she did say it was up to you.”</p><p>Chloe’s attention snapped back over to the blonde, her mouth open once again, her breath catching in her throat.</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>Fat Amy shrugged, continuing to look down at her ice cream sundae that was lessening in size as the seconds rolled on and the spoonfuls rallied up.</p><p>“She said if you wanted to get married then she’d do it.”</p><p>———</p><p>“So wait,” Emily said, holding her hand up while she frowned, “let me get this straight. You two tell each other you’re in love with each other. You’re dating. But…you’re gonna break up once we’re out of quarantine??”</p><p>Beca swallowed loudly. She was sat at the head of the table, eight pairs of eyes staring back at her (Bella’s eyes focussed on the iPad in her lap), all looking entirely confused - even <em>Lilly</em>. The interrogation had only just begun, but Beca was surprised by how blunt Emily’s understanding had been.</p><p>“Um…yeah.”</p><p>“<em>Why</em>?!” Aubrey piped up, looking at Beca as though she was crazy. And it had Beca feeling a little hot under the collar. She hated confrontation. Particularly within her friendship group. But these guys were essentially her family, so why not just tell them exactly what was going on here.</p><p>“Because it was Chloe’s suggestion and I agreed to it because Chloe’s happiness is my main priority and if only temporarily dating is what will make her happy then…” she paused to let out a heavy exhale. Her chest felt tight. God she hadn’t really taken the time to think about it so clearly. Like, she’d do <em>anything</em> for Chloe. It just sucked that this particular something was so heartbreaking. “…then I’m gonna do it. Obviously.” her voice had changed to a disappointed mumble, her eyes staring hard at her empty plate she was yet to fill with breakfast items.</p><p>“Do you <em>want</em> to break up once quarantine is over?” Jessica asked with a sensitive tone, and it was weirdly a tone that hit an emotional nerve in Beca’s body. Her nose began to tingle a little, but she willed herself not to cry. It was no use crying over all this. Things were actually okay. She and Chloe were spending intimate time together. That was good. Right?</p><p>“Of course not-” she began, but was abruptly interrupted by several voices talking over one another as her friends all began to protest.</p><p>“So don’t break up with her!” a few cried out.</p><p>“You deserve to be happy! You <em>both</em> do!”</p><p>“Tell her!!”</p><p>“If there’s anyone you’re best matched with, it’s Chloe!”</p><p>Beca looked back up at her friends as they all stared at her desperately. And a tiny smile poked into the corner of her mouth.</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe watched as Amy scraped her spoon so firmly around the inside of the sundae dish, she felt certain there couldn’t possibly be any more ice cream left. What an odd turn of events. Amy certainly seemed more mature. More sensitive of other people’s feelings. Perhaps she could confide in her?</p><p>“Can I be honest with you?” she blurted, and her heart thudded against her chest as the blonde placed down the sundae dish on the ‘parlour counter’, her body position and expression showing that she was giving Chloe her entire attention.</p><p>“Sure. What’s up?”</p><p>Chloe bit her bottom lip. This was totally on topic. After all, they hadn’t quite finished the ‘marriage’ conversation so…</p><p>“I’d marry Beca tomorrow if she asked me.”</p><p>Fat Amy’s eyes lit up and it had a coy smile sweeping across Chloe’s face. She’d done it. She’d actually said it out loud. And it wasn’t crazy. She really <em>would</em> marry Beca if Beca asked.</p><p>They’d known each other for almost a decade. They’d lived together for most of that decade. They were beginning to get to know each other on a physically intimate level. They’d been there for each other during their own personal highs and lows. They were <em>perfect</em> for each other. And Chloe could <em>totally</em> figure out how to have a wife who was a famous recording artist..</p><p>“But it’s not gonna happen. So…” her sentence drifted out of her mouth and around the room, ringing in her ears, contributing to her disappointment. It must’ve been a few minutes by now. If they took much longer The Bellas would be wondering where they were. So Chloe began heading for the door of the studio, motioning to it, “…shall we go?”</p><p>Her question was rhetorical, and she made her way out of the room. She could hear Fat Amy following behind her, unaware that The Australian was grinning. Because Amy had every intention of telling Beca what they’d spoken about. <em>Chloe wanted commitment</em>. She wanted to be with Beca <em>after quarantine </em>just like Beca wanted to be with Chloe.</p><p>———</p><p>“Please don’t let Chloe know that you know about us, okay?” Beca hissed, hearing the familiar stomp of Fat Amy’s feet as she (and presumably Chloe) headed for the living area to join Beca and The Bellas, “She wanted to keep it a secret!”</p><p>To her relief she saw the women all nodding seriously at her, before smiles spread across The Bellas faces, greeting Chloe and Fat Amy as they approached the table.</p><p>Beca felt a little anxious as Chloe was left with no choice but to take the seat beside hers. And, much like previous breakfasts in quarantine, Chloe’s hand found its way to Beca’s under the table. Their fingers entwined, and gentle smiles swept across their faces as they looked out at their friends, observing the way the women sorted the breakfast out.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Thud</em>. Emily let out a light tut, rolling her eyes as she looked down off the side of her bed and at her phone which laid face down on the floor nearby. It’d be just her luck to break her phone during quarantine with no plausible way of getting it fixed until services such as ‘cell phone repair’ were back up and running again. She put her pen and notepad to one side on her bedding, and stretched her arm down to try to pick the device up without having to leave her bed.</p><p>It was late morning in LA and The Bellas had all been allocated ‘free time’ to do as they wished before they all congregated at 1pm to make their own pizzas for dinner (guided by Stacie who had boasted the ‘best recipe’ because her grandmother was Italian apparently). Emily was waiting from a text from her friends to let her know the current plan of socialising, and had decided to use this valuable alone time to sit in bed and write a letter to her mother and to attempt to write some lyrics for a new song inspired by being in quarantine.</p><p>Try as she might, no amount of casual stretching would edge her close enough to pick up her phone. But for some reason, Emily chose not to get out of bed, and instead leant more of her upper body over the side of the mattress. With a loud yelp, Emily tumbled out of her bed, resembling a leggy giraffe that had tripped over its own legs.</p><p>No sooner had she landed on the floor, however, she heard the door to the guest bedroom she was staying in open. And despite initially being fully prepared to immediately stand up and explain herself, hushed voices made her freeze in horror.</p><p>“<em>See, I told you it’d be free</em>.” the giggled whispered sentence definitely came from Chloe and it caused Emily to grimace. Because with Chloe and that tone of voice would inevitably come-</p><p>“<em>Call me a genius for directing The Bellas to the ‘ice cream parlour’.</em>” Beca mumbled in reply, the door having firmly closed.</p><p>“<em>You sexy genius</em>.” Chloe replied, and the colour drained from Emily’s face when she heard very audible kissing coming from the other side of the room. Oh god. Beca and Chloe thought they were alone. What the hell was she going to do??</p><p>Fortunately her ungraceful decent from her bed meant that she’d fallen close enough to her phone to reach it. Emily quietly grabbed the device and typed as quickly and clearly as her left hand would allow her:</p><h2>
  <em>Project Bhloe WhatsApp</em>
</h2><p><b>Emily</b>: SMS!!!</p><p><b>Emily</b>: I REPEAT - SMS!!!!!!!</p><p><b>Cynthia Rose</b>: SMS??</p><p><b>Ashley</b>: Isn’t that from the early 00s?</p><p><b>Ashley</b>:</p><p>
  
</p><p class="tmblr-attribution">
  <a href="https://tmblr.co/Z8Nuqx2WJ7ZR2">Originally posted by plumkat</a>
</p><p><b>Jessica</b>: Yeah I don’t think people send SMS’s any more Em..</p><p>Emily rolled her eyes. Great - smart asses. She knew her friends were all jokers but now wasn’t a time to be joking. Now was a time for panicking and rescuing and-</p><p><b>Emily</b>: SMS</p><p><b>Emily</b>: SAVE MY SOUL!!!!!</p><p>There was the distinct sound of mattress springs and giggling and more kissing and Emily thought she was going to throw up. Beca and Chloe were going to <em>have sex</em> and Emily would have to hear it. Because there was noway she could possibly stand up now and walk out of the room.</p><p><b>Aubrey</b>: What’s wrong Emily?</p><p>Emily’s body seemed to ease with relief. Oh thank God. Aubrey would definitely sort this out. She replied as quickly as possible.</p><p><b>Emily</b>: Beca and Chloe are in Chloe’s bed and about to have sex!!</p><p><b>Stacie</b>: 😏</p><p><b>Emily</b>: No 😏!! This is horrible!!!</p><p><b>Emily</b>: 😭</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Let them get on with it! They’re happy together!</p><p><b>Ashley</b>: Except for the crushing knowledge that they believe the other wants to break up with them at the end of quarantine when in reality they don’t want that at all..</p><p><b>Fat Amy</b>: Oh. Yeah.</p><p><b>Stacie</b>: Doesn’t mean they’re not happy doing it 😏</p><p>A light squeak sounded from across the room, and Emily grimaced as Chloe and Beca both giggled (“<em>Chloe. Don’t leave a mark</em>.”) God, she had to get out of here somehow.</p><p><b>Emily</b>: 😭</p><p><b>Aubrey</b>: Emily tell us what’s wrong.</p><p><b>Emily</b>: IM STUCK IN THE BEDROOM HIDING BEHIND MY BED AND THEY DONT KNOW IM HEEEEERE!!!!!!!!! 😭</p><p><b>Cynthia Rose</b>: 😂😂😂</p><p><b>Stacie</b>: hahahahhahaahaaaaaaaaa!!!</p><p><b>Ashley</b>: haha!</p><p><b>Jessica</b>: Oh no!!</p><h2>— 30 minutes earlier —</h2><p>“We need a distraction.” Amy hissed at The Bellas, glancing over at Beca sat at the breakfast table, who was busy glancing over at Chloe stood by the fridge. The women taking part in the hushed conversation leant in closer, looking at the Australian both seriously and curiously.</p><p>“What kind of distraction?” Emily asked, her brow furrowed while she peered over her shoulder at Chloe who was chatting away to the girls (none of whom were really listening except Beca) about how she’d once had the most amazing breakfast smoothy and only wished she could recreate it.</p><p>“The kind that’ll get Chloe out of here for a few minutes so we can tell Beca our plan.” Amy explained clearly. But The Bellas just glanced at each other in confusion before looking to Amy to elaborate.</p><p>“There’s a plan?” Jessica asked.</p><p>“A plan for what?” Ashley added.</p><p>Fat Amy rolled her eyes, letting out a brief sigh of frustration as though it was the most obvious plan in the world.</p><p>“A plan to give Beca time alone with Chloe so she can finally tell her how she truly feels about her.”</p><p>The Bellas eyebrows all rose, nodding to confirm that they’d understood.</p><p>“Well what sort of distraction were you thinking?” Emily asked, and she found herself swallowing nervously when Fat Amy turned to her with a mischievous grin.</p><p>———</p><p>“Hey Chloe?”</p><p>Beca looked over the top of her coffee cup she was drinking from to see Emily step over to Chloe somewhat nervously, the young woman continuing, “Can I borrow your hairbrush? I didn’t bring one.”</p><p>Chloe looked mildly confused, her brow furrowed slightly. And Beca joined her in a similar reaction. Because it was a little hard to believe. Emily hadn’t brushed her hair in three days??</p><p>The rest of The Bellas looked equally confused. When they’d told Emily that she needed to send Chloe to another room, they hadn’t expected the youngest Bella to come up with such a bad excuse.</p><p>Emily was sweating. Hairbrush?! Who the hell doesn’t pack a hairbrush when going away?? She wasn’t even sure why she’d said it. She’d just panicked because this was all happening so fast and she never had been good at quick-thinking. To be fair, she was still panicking. Even more so now that Chloe had turned to her.</p><p>“You didn’t pack a hairbrush?” Chloe asked in disbelief, her eyes noticeably scanning Emily’s fairly well-tamed hair. Emily nodded, looking awkward as she skewed her mouth, and Chloe’s mouth dropped open in shock, “That’s unbelievable!” she added, her chair scraping back.</p><p>“Yeah, <em>really</em> unbelievable.” Beca heard Fat Amy mutter, and the brunette turned to see her friends all looking at Emily as though they were up to something. But just as she turned to challenge the younger Bella, Chloe rose to her feet.</p><p>“Well yeah I think I brought a spare.” the redhead offered kindly, “Do you need it now?”</p><p>It was <em>obvious</em> that Emily didn’t need a hairbrush at that very moment, but Beca watched as the woman nodded. So Chloe slowly headed out of the room, closely followed by Emily. And by the time Beca turned back to her friends to challenge them, they were already rising to their feet.</p><p>“Why do I get the feeling you’re up to something?” she asked suspiciously as The Bellas dashed over to her, glancing at the hallway that Chloe and Emily had disappeared down.</p><p>“We’re gonna buy you some time.” Cynthia Rose hissed seriously, and Beca jumped at the feel of Fat Amy’s hands landing on her shoulders while stood behind her.</p><p>“Riiight? And why do I need time?” She asked, though a part of her already knew the answer.</p><p>“Time with Chloe.” Aubrey replied in an impatient tone, “So you can tell her how you really feel about her.”</p><p>“That you wanna marry her and have babies with her and live happily ever after together.” Stacie offered with a teasing voice and it caused Beca to roll her eyes.</p><p>She wouldn’t be having any babies <em>that</em> was for sure. It would be responsibility enough being <em>married</em> let alone an added (and far heavier) responsibility of bringing a human into the world and keeping it alive. In fact, being a parent was so much more than that. It was being in tune with the kids thoughts and feelings and rapid development. The idea of all that panicked Beca no end. Panicked her because she was bound to end up like her parents - selfish, uninterested, and difficult to impress. It was easier to just not have a kid in the first place. Less feelings to hurt and fewer complicated relationships.</p><p>“No pressure.” Amy added unhelpfully, squeezing Beca’s shoulders, and the brunette scrunched her nose up.</p><p>“Sure.” she replied sarcastically, “You lot standing over me doesn’t add any pressure at all.” and The Bellas (apart from Amy who remained directly behind Beca) took a step backwards mumbling their respective apologies.</p><p>Beca was still amazed at how much they wanted to help. But then if she really took a moment to think about it, life as she knew it was pretty <strike>amazing</strike> <em>unbelievable</em>. A worldwide pandemic throwing the country into quarantine, The Bellas were all living under one roof again, she’d finally <em>kissed</em> Chloe…</p><p>“I told everyone about your ice cream parlour.” Fat Amy’s words cut through Beca’s brief daydream, and the brunette noticed the hopeful expressions on the faces of her friends. There it was - the real reason why they were all so keen to ‘help’. They wanted to try out the ice cream parlour in Beca’s studio. So Beca responded in the way that her friends would hope she would:</p><p>“Want me to show it to you guys so you can busy yourself there and I can whisk Chloe away for a little while alone?”</p><p>———</p><p>Bella Conrad’s eyes widened in awe and wonder the second she followed her mother into the studio. In fact, a little squeak of excitement escaped her lips as she beamed, pushing past all of her aunts to get to the huge tubs of ice cream on display.</p><p>Beca grinned at her friends’ reactions, and even felt pretty pleased at how brilliant Bella’s reaction was. She was proud of her creation and impressed the ice creams were still holding their own in that chest freezer.</p><p>“Right, so…” she began, hovering near the doorway while the rest of the women joined Bella at the makeshift parlour, “…just, help yourselves to cones, ice cream, make sundaes, whatever.” she motioned to the large projector screen, “Put on whatever Netflix stuff you want.” then pointed over at her laptop, “Laptop’s connected to it so use it for selecting Netflix.” And finally she pointed directly at The Bellas, a serious expression on her face, “<em>Don’t</em> touch my mixing deck, <em>don’t</em> go in the recording booth, just…don’t touch anything that looks expensive or that you don’t know how to use.”</p><p>The Bellas all nodded firmly in agreement while unbeknownst to them Bella had started sticking her fingers in the strawberry ice cream. Fat Amy raised her hand and Beca let out a sigh. Here it went. Amy insisting she knew all about mixing decks and recording music…</p><p>“Question.” The Australian said clearly, her arm dropping when Beca nodded, “Why is there no Cookies &amp; Cream flavour?”</p><p>Beca’s eyebrows rose. <em>That</em> was the question? <em>That</em> was what she was bothered about??</p><p>“Because they’re all of Chloe’s favourite flavours of ice cream.” she answered simply with a shrug, and decided to turn and head out of the room before The Bellas’ inevitable squee of excitement, coo of delight, and before any of them noticed Beca’s cheeks flushing pink in embarrassment.</p><p>Fat Amy scrunched her nose up, “What kind of person doesn’t have Cookies &amp; Cream as a favourite??”</p><p>———</p><p>Emily slowly dragged the hairbrush through her hair for the sixteenth time (she’d been counting. Out loud.) while Chloe stood miraculously patiently by the door of the bedroom, her arms folded with a curious grin on her face. She had no idea how long she had to keep the redhead away. But she was sure The Bellas would text her soon to tell her when she was allowed to rejoin them.</p><p>Suddenly the door to the bedroom opened, bashing into Chloe’s elbow with a <em>thud</em>. Chloe let out a small gasp that echoed Beca’s as the brunette poked her head around the door and into the room.</p><p>“Shit. Sorry.” Beca mumbled, looking a bit flushed. But Chloe smiled sweetly, rubbing her elbow with her fingers.</p><p>“It’s okay. I’ve got another one.” she replied, referring to her elbow. Emily looked over at the two lovebirds with a grin. They really <em>did</em> look very happy together. And it had the young woman feeling rather excited for them. What an adventure to be in love during quarantine. And how <em>romantic</em>.</p><p>“Can I talk to you for a moment?” Beca asked Chloe in a quiet voice, and Emily saw Chloe glance over at her.</p><p>“Yeah I um…” Chloe began, pausing. The room fell silent as both Beca and Chloe looked at Emily who was looking back at them. Then Emily’s eyebrows rose when she realised Chloe was actually waiting for her to confirm that she was now okay and no longer needed her.</p><p>Beca couldn’t work out what was taking Emily so long to fill the increasingly awkward air. This was the whole point of The Bellas desperate plan, right? To give Chloe and Beca time alone? So why was Emily hesitating?</p><p>It was because Emily was having an internal battle with what to do. Her instinct was of course to let Chloe go off with Beca. But what if The Bellas were wanting her to keep Chloe out of the way a little longer? She didn’t want to disappoint them. But then…she didn’t want to disappoint Beca <em>more</em>.</p><p>“Oh you can go!” Emily suddenly burst, motioning to the hairbrush while chuckling hysterically, “Yeah, no, I-I’m all good now. You don’t need to be here any more. Thanks.”</p><p>Chloe’s brow furrowed, and she opened her mouth to ask if Emily was sure but before she could, Beca took her hand and dragged her away.</p><p>Emily let out a heavy sigh, trying to release any anxiety. Oh god. She hoped she’d made the right decision in letting Chloe go.</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe’s heart was racing a little faster, trying to stifle a giggle while Beca tugged her by the hand to the back yard.</p><p>“Beca!” she mumbled with a grin on her face, loving the urgency and the potential for getting caught, “What’s going on?”</p><p>Beca stopped immediately, pulling Chloe around so they both stood against a wall of the mansion. Chloe giggled freely, her body automatically pressing up against the brunette’s while Beca wrapped her arms around Chloe’s waist, a smile on her own face.</p><p>“Fat Amy’s bought us some time.” Beca explained, slightly breathless for some reason. As though she felt like they <em>really</em> didn’t have as much time as they realistically had.</p><p>“How <em>much</em> time?” Chloe asked, her eyes widening at the thought of what they could probably do with that time.</p><p>Beca bit her bottom lip. She could just come out with it right here and now. Just tell Chloe that she didn’t want them to end things once quarantine was no longer necessary. That she wanted to be with her <em>romantically</em> for the rest of her life. But the way Chloe was looking down at her lips had Beca quickly concluding that now really wasn’t the time.</p><p>“Time enough to find a bed?” Beca replied with a suggestive expression, and a massive smile spread across Chloe’s beautiful face. There it was. Beca’s unspoken confirmation that she was ready for them to perhaps go a little further than just kissing. Beca felt Chloe reach around and take her hand, and a grin poked onto her face as she was reminded of how Chloe used to be like in the early days of their friendship.</p><p>“Emily will be gone by now!” Chloe gushed excitably, tugging Beca along by the hand, heading for the doors that would lead them back inside, “Nobody would think to check that room again!”</p><p>It was unusual logic. But Beca, so sure that The Bellas really <em>would</em> stay in the studio until Beca told them they could leave, bumbled along happily behind the redhead. Both excited by the prospect of what was about to come. Neither, however, realised that Emily hadn’t yet left the bedroom.</p><p>———</p><p>Jessica stood at Beca’s notice board in the studio, inspecting the impressive paper cutting that Chloe had made the previous day.</p><p>“Cute cutting.” Ashley commented beside her and Jessica nodded, humming in agreement.</p><p>“Taylor Swift lyrics?” Flo checked. Jessica, Ashley, Cynthia Rose, and Stacie nodded in agreement. Aubrey was busy settling Bella down in front of a kids movie that was being projected on the massive screen. And both Fat Amy and Lilly were standing a little <em>too</em> close to Beca’s mixing deck, eating their respective cones with ice cream.</p><h2>Project Bhloe WhatsApp</h2><p><b>Emily</b>: SMS!!!</p><p><b>Emily</b>: I REPEAT - SMS!!!!!!!</p><p>The Bellas all got their phones out, chuckling when they saw Emily’s text and setting to replying. They all grinned over the course of the next couple of minutes at the predicament Emily had landed herself in.</p><p><b>Emily</b>: IM STUCK IN THE BEDROOM HIDING BEHIND MY BED AND THEY DONT KNOW IM HEEEEERE!!!!!!!!! 😭</p><p>“We’d better get her out of there.” Aubrey said in a sympathetic tone, and some of The Bellas nodded in agreement. Fat Amy, however, seemed reluctant.</p><p>“We can’t exactly barge in there and drag Emily out, telling Bhloe to carry on.” she added.</p><p>“Since when have you been such a pessimist?” Cynthia Rose challenged with a frown, looking over at The Australian who shrugged.</p><p>“Yeah and since when have you cared about barging into <em>anywhere</em> unannounced?” Stacie followed up suspiciously.</p><p>“All I’m saying is we’d need a better excuse to interrupt Beca going at it with Chloe than just dragging Emily out of the room.”</p><p>“Oh yeah?” Aubrey asked, looking a little impatient while still sat beside Bella opposite the projector screen, “And what sort of ‘<em>better excuse</em>’ did you have in mind?”</p><p>Fat Amy hesitated, looking around the room before her eyes landed on her ice cream. And the impulse that always guided her drove her forward once more. With barely a beat between her decision and action, Amy turned her cone upside down, and slammed it (and three scoops of chocolate brownie ice cream) directly onto the keys of the mixing deck.</p><p>The Bellas all collectively gasped loudly, freezing on the spot while Amy turned to them entirely nonplussed.</p><p>“Beca will be here in a flash.” she said simply, heading for the door of the studio to go and get Beca (and hopefully buy Emily enough time to escape the bedroom).</p><p>The Bellas’ mouths hung open as they stared at the increasingly melting ice cream seeping into the highly expensive recording and mixing system. Beca was going to go <em>apeshit.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Beca took a sharp intake of breath, her back arching as a sloppy grin swept onto her face. She felt Chloe nibble and gently suck on a patch of her neck, the woman’s hand sneaking up beneath her pyjama top and lightly squeezing her left breast. Everything was going so quickly. But for some reason, knowing she had guaranteed uninterrupted time with Chloe to do whatever they so pleased, gave Beca an air of confidence in terms of what she wanted to do with Chloe. And right now, her arousal was building thick and fast.</p><p>Her hands slipped daringly down the back of Chloe’s pyjama pants while the redhead laid on top of her, and she heard a moan sound from the back of Chloe’s throat the moment she gently gripped the woman’s butt. And it was this moan that brought a smirk to Beca’s face. A smirk that was quickly ‘kissed-off’ by Chloe’s lips.</p><p>Beca reached up to cup Chloe’s cheeks, deepening the kiss by daring to slip her tongue across the woman’s bottom lip. And there that little moan sounded again, as Chloe brought her arms around Beca’s waist, steadying both their bodies while the redhead slowly began to grind her hips into Beca.</p><p>This was hot. No question. And the longer they made out for, the further Beca was from wanting to break this perfect little bubble they were in. Talking about their ‘future’ would ruin things. Talking about stopping all this (albeit in what was likely to be in several weeks time) would ruin things. And Beca just didn’t want to ruin <em>anything</em>.</p><p>But…she couldn’t find herself wanting to have sex with Chloe without at least touching on the idea that she wanted the two of them to spend the rest of their lives together, not just quarantine. So with a deep intake of breath through her nose, Beca reluctantly broke the kiss, guiding Chloe’s face a couple of inches from hers so she could look into her eyes.</p><p>Chloe swallowed loudly, looking down at Beca underneath her. The woman looked conflicted. And that was when Chloe began to panic. Was this all happening too fast for Beca? Had she come on to her too strong? Had Beca <em>not</em> meant sex when she’d suggested they find a bed??</p><p>“I just need to clarify something…” Beca said, pausing to furrow her brow. What a weird choice of words.</p><p>Chloe, meanwhile, took that particularly odd opening of a sentence to mean one thing and one thing only. This really <em>was</em> too bold a move. And that Beca needed to clarify that what they were to each other now would definitely be different once quarantine was over.</p><p>“…I’m loving all this, and being with you, and…” ‘<em>kissing you and holding you and flirting with you</em>’ Beca wanted to continue. But again she paused because she needed to ensure that the next few important sentences were going to make sense. So that Chloe really <em>did</em> know how she felt about their ‘quarantine arrangement’ and how much it sucked and how much she wanted to continue being her girlfriend once quarantine had been lifted.</p><p>“…it’s great but…” Chloe’s heart was hammering away as Beca paused <em>again</em>. God if the woman was going to end things now or at least clarify that this wasn’t going to last past the summer at the most, then the least Beca could do was just rip the bandaid off and tell her directly.</p><p>“…once quarantine is over I don’t want to-” ‘<em>end things between us</em>’ was what Beca had wanted to and should have said. ‘<em>be with you anymore</em>’ is what Chloe assumed Beca was going to finish her sentence with.</p><p>But Beca’s sentence was immediately interrupted by the bedroom door slamming open. Fat Amy launched into the room, breathless.</p><p>Chloe was too stunned by her mixed emotions to comprehend the awkward position she was currently laying in, on top of Beca in her bed, their hair ruffled and lips red from the ferocity of their make out session. Beca, however, sat up as best as her upper body (and Chloe) would allow.</p><p>“<em>Amy</em>!!!” she barked angrily, but in true ‘Fat Amy’ fashion, the Australian chose not to pick up on the threatening look Beca was giving her.</p><p>“Beca!” Amy panted, pointing out of the door she’d just come through, “Your mixing stuff!”</p><p>Beca’s ears pricked up and Chloe felt the woman’s body beneath her noticeably stiffen in fear.</p><p>“Bella threw ice cream all over it!” Fat Amy finished.</p><p>“<em>WHAT</em>?!” Beca bellowed. In all the years that they’d known each other, Chloe had never heard such a tone and volume come from Beca’s mouth. And to her dismay, she felt the petite brunette scramble from beneath her, off the bed, and stormed quickly out of the bedroom. Amy closely followed.</p><p>“See, this is why I hate kids!!” Chloe heard Beca yelling angrily down the hallway. And it were those words that caused her chest to tighten. Beca hated kids. <em>Hated</em> them. Such a strong word to be using about <em>anything</em> least of all children. Chloe loved kids but Beca hated kids. So…what now?</p><p>In Chloe’s imagination she’d always dreamt they’d eventually confess their love for each other, get married, have children, and live happily ever after. But thinking back on what Beca had been so close to saying earlier, before Fat Amy had interrupted, perhaps it was best that Chloe tried to quash that dream once again? After all, Chloe had been desperately yearning to start a family sooner rather than later given her age. Maybe Beca <em>wasn’t</em> ‘the one’.</p><p>Ever dutiful, and fully aware that of all the people currently under this roof she would be the only one capable of de-escalating an angry Beca, Chloe slipped out of the bed herself. She straightened her clothes out with a sigh and padded slowly out of the bedroom where there was already noticeably a loud commotion coming from the studio down the end of the hallway.</p><p>When she felt the coast was clear, and holding her breath just in case it wasn’t, Emily tentatively peered over her own bed that she’d be laying on the floor beside. Noticing that she finally was the only person in the room, she stood, phone in hand. There was a lot to process right now. But one thing was certain through and through: Emily had always had serious FOMO.</p><p>So she too strode out of the bedroom to track down her friends and find out what the hell they’d been doing in the studio without her.</p><p>———</p><p>“Oh my God!” Beca blurted no sooner had she stepped into the studio, and she ignored the reactions of her friends as she tore over to the mixing desk, letting out a cry of anguish at the sticky ice cream that melted between the keys, buttons, and knobs. Her hands flew to her head and she grabbed bunches of her hair as her anger bubbled, the reality settling in, “OH MY <em>GOD</em>!!”</p><p>The Bellas all stood tentatively, silently around the room, watching Beca anxiously. None of them noticed Chloe hover in the doorway, peering inside.</p><p>Suddenly Beca whipped around in a rage, her eyes darting around the room for the little culprit. But to her surprise, Bella was sat on the mattress on the floor, her little legs crossed while she remained transfixed on a kids movie on Netflix, an ice cream sundae dish carefully resting in her lap, full of melting ice cream. She didn’t exactly <em>look</em> like a kid who had ran riot around the room and had thrown ice cream everywhere.</p><p>“<em>You</em>!!” Beca barked, whipping around to point her index finger accusingly at Fat Amy. The Australian swallowed loudly, “What the <em>fuck</em> are you <em>playing</em> at Amy??”</p><p>“It-” Amy began, but was quickly interrupted by the fiery brunette.</p><p>“This equipment costs, like…probably <em>millions</em>!!” Beca cried out, floundering for appropriate words to create a reasonable sentence.</p><p>“I can pay to replace it.” Amy suggested, unusually sheepish.</p><p>“It’s not about the money!” Beca snapped, “God, I could afford to replace it if I had to but…I cant…it…there’s no way I can get an engineer out here to fix this during a fucking <em>pandemic</em>, Amy!!!”</p><p>“But-”</p><p>“The label will be asking me why I’m not recording anything or mixing anything or doing any work whatsoever-”</p><p>“They’ll be okay?” Amy attempted to suggest while Beca babbled frantically.</p><p>“-and they don’t know that you guys are even here so how the hell am I supposed to explain what’s happened without getting in shit because I’ve been housing eleven other people in my house during quarantine!!”</p><p>“It was Bella!” Amy blurted loudly, trying to detract Beca from sinking further into a bad mood. Aubrey (who <em>had</em> been sat beside the almost-three year old before sharply rising to her feet), and Stacie both stepped towards the blonde, looking at her fiercely, readying their responses over the accusation made about the little girl they loved so. But Beca - oblivious to the two protective mothers - was having none of Amy’s bullshit.</p><p>“Oh cut the crap! That’s hardly the look of a kid who has thrown ice cream around this room!” Beca retorted angrily, moving her arm to point at the little girl who still appeared to be oblivious. “And there’s nobody else who would be stupid enough to disobey me so specifically!!”</p><p>“But-” Amy began. Emily, meanwhile, slipped into the room past Chloe.</p><p>“-You better tell me the truth and you’d better make it good, or I swear to God I’ll throw you outta this house and never talk to you again!!”</p><p>Beca was too angry to notice many of The Bellas glancing awkwardly over at Emily. But the brief pause was quickly interrupted by Aubrey who cleared her throat and looked over at Chloe.</p><p>“Um, Chloe? Would you mind running Bella a bath and we’ll join you in a couple of minutes?”</p><p>Beca snapped her glare from Amy, and watched in confusion as the redhead nodded, slowly wandered towards Bella (who had started to rise to her feet obediently), and guided the little girl out of the room. Once the door slowly closed to a shut, Beca turned back to The Bellas who all strode up to her to explain the need for the ‘distraction’ but adamantly insisted that none of them condoned Fat Amy’s action..</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe’s fingers swirled through the warm bubbly water, her teeth biting the inside of her cheek gently while she remained stuck in her thoughts. Bella chatted away happily, lining up foam alphabet letters stuck on the inside of the tub. Chloe attempted to swallow the large lump caught in her throat.</p><p><em>Beca hated kids</em>. She wouldn’t want to become a mother or help Chloe raise their children. She claimed she loved Chloe, sure. But for Chloe, not having children one day was a deal breaker. So she would definitely have to let Beca go. And with her, all those dreams of settling down with her, marrying her, making a home with her, and living happily ever after with her.</p><p>Chloe cleared her throat, trying to keep the tears at bay. She <em>wouldn’t</em> cry. She wouldn’t mourn the loss of hope that she’d kept within her for years. She just needed to move on. And she would need to be clear and honest with Beca about it all. Sooner rather than later.</p><p>No children meant no future. She shouldn’t expect Beca to settle for kids just because it was what Chloe wanted, just as Beca shouldnt expect Chloe to settle for having no kids just because it was what Beca wanted.</p><p>The door to the bathroom creaked open and Chloe turned, expecting to see Aubrey and Stacie step inside. But to her surprise, she saw Beca step into the room, a soft smile on her face.</p><p>“Hey. Uh…” Beca paused, looking apologetic as she slowly stepped towards the tub, her fingers knitted while her hands rested across her stomach, “…I’m sorry about…all that back there. I overreacted. I’m just…I haven’t had to share a house with anyone else in almost two years so…”</p><p>The tight knot in Chloe’s stomach eased slightly at the sight of the brunette she loved so much. But the lump in her throat remained. She shook her head gently while Beca came to a stop beside her.</p><p>“I didn’t think you were overreacting.” she replied honestly. And she truly believed it. “Millions of dollars worth of equipment ruined because Fat Amy can’t hold an ice cream properly…” she paused as Beca let out a light chuckle, “…I’d be angry too.”</p><p>Beca let out a sigh of relief, slumping down onto a patch of floor beside the tub, directly opposite Chloe. Chloe who was always so understanding when it came to Beca’s temper. Beca had always (mostly) managed to keep it in line, particularly since entering adulthood. But sometimes something sparked her bad mood, igniting her temper within and (along with a stressful environment or surrounded by stressful people or something being out of her control or <em>something getting ruined</em>) eventually Beca went up in a metaphorical puff of smoke.</p><p>But Chloe? Chloe always seemed to notice those warning signs. Had actually been present during the few outbursts she’d had during college. Had been around in the couple of years following to listen to Beca’s outrage when retelling the story to help her calm down. And yet Chloe <em>still</em> loved her. <em>Still</em> stuck by her.</p><p>“Auntie Beca, are you still maaaaad?” Bella’s little voice asked, the sound echoing off the walls of the beautiful bathroom. Chloe watched Beca carefully. The woman hated kids. And yet, the kind smile Beca was giving Bella right now didn’t exactly ooze ‘<em>kid-hater</em>’.</p><p>“Nah. Not any more.” Beca replied in a kind tone, smiling gently at the three year old who was looking intently over at her from her position in the bath tub. It hadn’t been Bella’s fault her mixing desk was wrecked. In fact, following on from what The Bellas had all told her in the studio, Beca hated to admit that Fat Amy’s stupid decision had actually had all best intentions.</p><p><em>Emily had been in the room</em>. Beca’s stomach twisted again at that reminder. The poor girl would’ve had to hear her and Chloe having sex. And what was worse, Beca and Chloe would’ve eventually found out and been mortified. Even more mortified than Beca already was now!</p><p>“Sorry I yelled.” Chloe’s mouth hung open slightly at the sound of Beca’s apology, the woman directing the words to the little girl with them. Bella simply shrugged.</p><p>“Sometimes Aubrey gets mad on the phone.” Bella explained, reaching down into the water for a toy that had sunk to the bottom, clearly not concentrating on the ‘conversation’ any more, “Mama makes her feel better.”</p><p>Beca and Chloe immediately looked to each other, smiles springing onto their faces in delight. More evidence that something might be going on between Aubrey and Stacie. It was a casual conversation they’d had on their first date - about whether those two Bellas’ were also sharing a secret romance of some sort..</p><p>“You want my toy to help you feel better?” the little girl asked, suddenly tugging out a soaked Barbie doll which had no clothes on, holding it out to the brunette. The motion splashed both Beca and Chloe, causing the women to giggle, and Beca reached out to receive the gift.</p><p>“Uh, thanks little dude.” Beca replied, bringing the Barbie up to ‘stand’ on the edge of the tub as though it were looking at Bella, “<em>Hi Bella!</em>” she said in a squeaky voice - as though she was doing an impression - and Bella immediately looked up from the bath water with a huge smile.</p><p>Chloe watched with affection, her heart soaring at the sight of Beca interacting with the little girl. It wasn’t as though Beca looked <em>comfortable</em>, but she was trying. And it was that effort that ignited Chloe’s hope once more. Perhaps by the end of quarantine she could persuade Beca not to break up with her, and she with Beca? Perhaps they could agree to become official, then eventually get married and have babies and live happily ever after?</p><p>“You hate kids huh?” she asked curiously, trying to make her voice light and playful. Secretly she was probing hard. Because there was a tiny scrap of hope that she might have got it all wrong.</p><p>Beca looked over at Chloe with a frown, “Huh?” When had she said that? Sure, she didn’t know how to look after them and for the most part didn’t know how to play with them but…that didn’t mean she <em>hated</em> them.</p><p>“Because you…” Chloe paused, throwing her thumb in the direction of the door as though motioning into the past, “…back then you…you said you hated kids.”</p><p>Beca’s eyebrows rose. She’d said that? She often said a lot of things in the heat of the moment when she was angry, and more often than not she would forget she’d even said it. Just like now. Right now she was mostly relieved that Chloe wasn’t hurt by her outburst earlier, even when none of it had been directed at her.</p><p>“Oh! Yeah, no, I was just…caught up in whatever horror I was about to walk into.” Beca explained with a wave of her hand as though Chloe should forget about it. The brunette turned her eyes to the Barbie doll she was now trying to keep steady, whose long wet blonde hair Bella was attempting (and failing) to pull a toy brush through.</p><p>“So…you like kids?” Chloe dared to probe, her heart racing a little in anticipation. Sadly, she watched as her girfriend(?) skewed her mouth, clearly thinking about her response.</p><p>“I think I’m indifferent about them.” the brunette finally concluded with a small shrug, moving the Barbie’s left leg as though it was starting a march then swinging it back down again, her mind on something else. Bella continued to busy herself, now attempting to de-tangle the ‘brush’ from the doll’s knotty hair.</p><p>“Would you want to have one of your own one day?” the words fell out of Chloe’s mouth far quicker and less careful than she would’ve liked. She watched Beca like a hawk, silently begging the woman to confirm that she would. Not wanting an excuse to have to come to terms with the very real likelyhood that they wouldn’t grow old together because they wanted different futures. A future without Beca felt like an awful future indeed.</p><p>“Would you?” Beca counteracted, looking to Chloe just as the redhead’s eyebrows rose.</p><p>Chloe looked down at her hands that were crossed on her lap. She thought she’d made it abundantly clear over the years that they’d known each other just how much she wanted to become a mother one day. To have her own little brood to love unconditionally. To raise those children with someone she loved. Her partner through life.</p><p>“Well yeah! I’d totes have two or three given half the chance.” Chloe quickly snapped her head up to look at Beca, holding her hands out as if trying to stop her, “Though not as many as my Mom had. Obviously.”</p><p>“<em>Jesus</em>. Yeah-no definitely not <em>seven</em>.” Beca agreed, wincing at the idea of so many babies coming out of <em>any</em> one woman. Beca had been to a ‘Beale event’ before. She’d heard the joke too many times. The joke that Chloe ‘practically fell out’ after Mrs Beale had had six natural births before her. All six of Chloe’s siblings, their respective partners, and Chloe’s parents always roared with laughter. Chloe always rolled her eyes in embarrassment. Beca always smiled politely.</p><p>Beca turned to the Barbie just as Bella tutted, tugging the doll from Beca’s left hand and plonking down into the bath water for a closer inspection of the tangled hair. The brunette, however, watched but didn’t really focus on what was going on with the child with them. Instead she shrugged, “Well if my wife wanted kids then I wouldn’t object to raising them with her.”</p><p>And that was when Chloe’s ears pricked up, “Wife?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Beca confirmed in a quiet thoughtful voice, still seeming a bit daydreamy, “I don’t think you can go through fertility treatment until you’re married…”</p><p>“Oh.” Chloe was impressed, replying slowly, “I hadn’t really put much thought into it.”</p><p>She honestly hadn’t! During the daydreams she’d had over the years, she’d always envisioned the two of them settling down nicely (living together, then getting engaged, then about 18 months later getting married with everyone they knew and loved in attendance, then quickly falling pregnant through IVF) and living happily ever after. Simple.</p><p>But the thought of having to wait for fertility treatment had Chloe’s anxiety flaring up. She opened her mouth, readying her response. Ready to ask Beca what her thoughts might be on the two of them maybe forgetting about their arrangement to end things after quarantine. To perhaps settle down, get married, and go for that fertility treatment. They knew each other so well. Had been a ‘team’ for years in college and the couple of years after. They were <em>in love</em>. They could make it work.</p><p>Suddenly the door to the bathroom swung open and both Stacie then Aubrey stepped into the room. Beca immediately rose to her feet, clearing her throat, saying to everyone near her:</p><p>“I’ve got to call my bosses.” she mumbled, and the three woman in the room with her winced as they all remembered the state of her mixing desk, “I’ll meet you guys by the pool at lunchtime?”</p><p>Aubrey, Chloe and Stacie all nodded, and Chloe felt her breath hitch in her throat as Beca gave her an apologetic smile before sloping out of the bathroom.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h2>‘I like shiny things, but I’d marry you with paper rings’</h2><p>Beca sat with her laptop, alone in her studio, hands gripped onto the Beats at her ears while she listened to ‘Paper Rings’ by Taylor Swift. She’d not listened to any of this album before. But the second The Bellas had drawn her attention to the <em>lyrics</em> on the paper cutting Chloe had given her, Beca knew she needed to hear more of that song.</p><p>
  <em>Beca pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed while her friends <b>still</b> spoke all at once. She was angry about her mixing equipment. Definitely. But as time was ticking on, and the more she heard about why Amy had done what she had, the more frustrated Beca was becoming about the situation she was in with Chloe.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She had been <b>so</b> close to suggesting to Chloe they carry on this thing beyond quarantine. Then fucking <b>Amy</b> had to barge in.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Just…stop.” Beca ordered as calmly as possible, her hands held out to stop the women before her from speaking further, “I nearly said it. Nearly.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The Bellas glanced at each other, confused.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Said what?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Letting out a heavy sigh, her shoulders slumping, Beca’s eyes darted around the room, her voice tired and revealing just how frustrated she was, “That I want to be with her after quarantine.” she whined.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Just come right out with it and tell her!” Cynthia Rose exclaimed.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah!” Stacie agreed, adding, “I mean she wants to <b>marry</b> you so it’s not like you need to be worried about her reaction.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Beca’s focus snapped back to her friends, eyes wide, suddenly giving them her full attention.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She said that?” Beca asked, her heart skipping a beat, “Chloe wants to marry me?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But The Bellas didn’t reply. Instead they all pointed to the paper cutting Chloe had made.</em>
</p><h2>‘I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this’</h2><p>Beca let out a heavy exhale through her nose. Those were the lyrics Chloe had written on that paper cutting gift.</p><h2>‘Darling you’re the one that I want, and paper rings and picture frames and dirty dreams’</h2><p>Chloe wanted to marry her. Chloe wanted them to have a future. And a coy smile swept across Beca’s face.</p><p>She would have to make some sort of gesture like Chloe had. Not as subtle but..perhaps something that would still have her stepping out of her comfort zone enough to show Chloe just how much she meant to her..</p><p>———</p><p>By midday, all The Bellas were sat around the pool. At a table, Cynthia Rose had challenged (and to her dismay was losing to) Flo in a card game. Lilly was carving what appeared to be the handle of a knife out of wood. Stacie was sat cross legged with Emily on the grass, a deck of tarot cards between them. Jessica and Ashley shared a sunlounger, busy creating tiny oragami animals and shapes out of coloured paper. Fat Amy was scrolling through her phone, a bag of Haribo on her lap, one hand held out so that her latest application of nail polish could dry. Bella was busy splashing in the pool with armbands on, calling out to Aubrey intermittently insisting that she watch how well she could swim all by herself. Aubrey, ever attentive to her (secret) stepdaughter, perched on the end of a sunlounger, cheering Bella on. And laid on that sunlounger was Chloe, who suddenly peered over her magazine at the sound of Beca stepping out into the warm LA sunshine:</p><p>“Amy, Aubrey, can I have a word?”</p><p>Beca looked stressed as she watched the two blonde rise to their feet cautiously. But Beca didn’t look stressed in a harassed kind of way like she had done back in college around finals season, or back in Brooklyn when she’d been trying to make a name for herself at BFD records. She just seemed more…<em>distracted</em>. Like she had a lot on her mind and was attempting to come up with a plan of action on how to tackle it all. And for now it seemed as though that plan of action was to get Amy and Aubrey involved.</p><p>Chloe felt a slight pang of jealousy. If Beca was struggling with something, shouldn’t <em>she</em> be the first person Beca should turn to? Chloe would want to help her in a heartbeat. Would want to support her. Would fight tooth and nail for her. So why wasn’t Beca <em>wanting her</em>?</p><p>“Do you need help with something?” Chloe asked brightly, swinging her legs around while placing her magazine down. But Beca practically jumped back a pace, her hands out.</p><p>“<em>Woah</em> no. No um…” there was a pause and Chloe’s brow furrowed while Beca struggled on with the rest of her sentence as Aubrey and Amy both slowed their approach to see what the brunette wanted them for, “…I just…I wanted to uh…I just need Amy and Aubrey. Not you. <em>Not</em>…” Beca winced as she hesitated and Chloe attempted to hold back tears while a lump formed in her throat, “…not that you’re not great. You’re perfect. You’re…I-I just don’t think you can help me right now.</p><p>“Oh.” Chloe’s quiet response was more of a choked grunt. She remembered that both she and Beca had agreed to keep their ‘isolationship’ a secret from the rest of the group. It didn’t make hearing the woman turning her help down any easier though. Beca’s commitment to that agreement was showing right now and it made Chloe feel a bit sick. “Yeah no…no worries.” she lied in a quiet voice, and sat back on her sunlounger again.</p><p>Beca smiles apologetically, her chest feeling tight. She hated upsetting Chloe in any way. But she would soon enough be able to explain exactly why Chloe couldn’t be privy to what she wanted to speak to Aubrey and Amy about in private..</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe hissed under her breath in frustration as a thorn pierced her thumb. <em>Great</em>, another band-aid to add to the mix. For some reason, the creative activity section of the day seemed to always render her injured. Yesterday with paper cutting, today with flower arranging. She hoped tomorrow wouldn’t be fire eating, but if they gave Lilly half a chance it <em>would</em> be..</p><p>As she brought her thumb to her mouth and sucked at the minor amount of blood coming from the ‘wound’, Chloe peered around the large table in the dining area of the house. Bella was busy picking petals one by one from the heads of a collection of daisies, while the rest of the Bellas cut the stems of and arranged into vases a vast amount of flowers that had been delivered earlier that day. The only Bella missing was the one Bella Chloe desperately wanted to spend time with.</p><p>“I’m just gonna see if Beca needs a coffee.” Chloe mumbled, purposefully hoping nobody heard while she slid off her chair. To her embarrassment, Aubrey was quick to pipe up.</p><p>“Beca told us specifically not to disturb her, remember?”</p><p>Chloe swore under her breath, running her index finger across the pad of her injured thumb while stood beside the blonde. So Beca hadn’t announced that particular request to the group. She’d told Amy and Aubrey who had passed the message on to the rest of the girls. And to add to the insult, Chloe appeared to have been kept an eye on ever since Beca’s disappearance, not even being able to go on a bathroom break without another one of The Bellas agreeing it was a good idea and joining her on the short trip.</p><p>So with a heavy sigh of defeat, Chloe reluctantly sat back down again, looking down at the bouquet of flowers she had been attempting to arrange together. She hated it.</p><p>———</p><p>Beca had her right hand on her forehead, leaning her right elbow on the edge of the now malfunctioning mixing desk. In her left hand she held her phone to her ear, and she winced at the sound of Theo’s voice coming from the device.</p><p>“…desk is only two years old! It was installed <em>for</em> you!”</p><p>“Well isn’t it at least impressive that it’s lasted this long then?” Beca suggested optimistically but it was met with a heavy sigh from her colleague.</p><p>“And what the hell was ice cream even doing in the studio anyway!”</p><p>Beca’s eyes glanced over at the ‘Scoops Ahoy’ ice cream parlour she’d created the day before and skewed her mouth briefly. She couldn’t lie. Lying now would mean she’d have to lie to the label and lying to the label could cost her career. And lying to Theo wouldn’t exactly help her when she eventually got around to asking him a favour.</p><p>“I was trying to impress a girl.” she admitted honestly, grinning at how absurd it sounded. She was nearly <em>thirty</em>, not thirteen!</p><p>“You’ve got a girl there?” Theo quickly asked, clearly sounding confused down the phone, and again Beca winced at the thought of having to share even more information he’d likely be unhappy hearing.</p><p>“Actuallyyyyy…I’ve got ten girls here. And a baby. The Bellas and one of their kids are here. With me. In quarantine. Until LA reopens again.”</p><p>Beca heard the man let out a groan of despair and she knew why. Because with all of The Bellas together under one roof it was no wonder Beca wasn’t keeping up with her new regimented schedule that the label had quickly devised and implemented to keep their prized up and coming artist producing more music to continue making them millions.</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe continued down the hallway as fast as her feet could carry her, ignoring the yells from her friends to return to them. This was absurd. She hadn’t seen Beca in four hours. What the hell was she <em>doing</em>?? She couldn’t possibly be making another replica Stranger Things set! Could she…?</p><p>As she burst into the studio, she heard Beca let out a loud yelp and saw the woman snap the screen of her MacBook down so it closed. The brunette turned in her seat, looking over at the intruder with wide eyes before clearing her throat and clearly trying to act casual. She tugged out a wireless iPhone bud from her ear, the other hanging in place inside her other ear.</p><p>“Did you want a coffee?” Chloe asked, slightly breathless from the adrenaline. She glanced around the studio and to her disappointment saw that Beca hadn’t done much to change it at all. No new set being built, or food making/storing machines being installed. All she seemed to be doing was working on her MacBook.</p><p>“Uh no. No I’m good. Thanks.”</p><p>The room fell silent as Chloe looked at Beca who looked back at her awkwardly. Chloe could feel years building in her eyes again. Why was Beca acting so…<em>Beca</em>? Like…the Beca she remembered from college. Quiet, private, head in her music/work, and keeping her distance. They were kinda girlfriends at the moment. Weren’t they? Had Chloe upset her? Was she pushing Chloe away?</p><p>“Have I said something to upset you or offend you or…?” Chloe asked, wringing her hands nervously. The longer time ticked on the more upset she felt. She wanted Beca to be happy, even if it meant they broke up early. It would leave her heartbroken. But if it was what Beca wanted…?</p><p>“-<em>No</em>!” Beca quickly insisted, rising to her feet, tugging the other bud from her ear and placing both down by her phone beside her MacBook. “No you definitely haven’t.” she strode over to Chloe, reaching for her hands and holding them by their sides, “I’ve just been swamped.” Beca confessed, and Chloe believed it, “I spoke to the label earlier about the mixing desk. They were pretty mad about it and insisted I still produce some music.” Chloe was beginning to feel guilty that she’d made this all about her. Of course Beca wasn’t pushing her away. She had a frikkin’ <em>career</em>. She couldn’t put it on hold just because Chloe was living with her and they’d started something romantic together. “They’ve also sent over a killer regime that they want me to try to stick to so they stay on target to release new material by Fall.”</p><p>Chloe gripped her bottom lip, leaning her face a bit closer to the brunette’s, “It’s okay.” she mumbled affectionately, “I was just being unreasonable.”</p><p>“No you weren’t.” Beca replied apologetically, “I wasn’t clear with you. I’m sorry.”</p><p>The two women sprung apart in an instant the second the studio door opened, and Fat Amy burst into the room, “Beca! Sorry, I tried to keep her away!” closely followed by Aubrey (who was closely followed by Bella).</p><p>———</p><p>“Hey Mom!” Chloe tucked her left arm across her waist, her right hand holding her phone to her ear while she walked away from the lit fire pit that The Bellas had decided to start before sunset.</p><p>Once she’d calmed down after worrying about Beca, and had left the brunette to work in the studio in peace again, Chloe had returned to the flower arranging workshop that Jessica and Ashley had been providing the women as an afternoon activity. They’d all settled around the fire pit after a light dinner, and had decided that filling up on s’mores and wine was a better way to spend their third evening in quarantine.</p><p>“Hello sweetheart! How are you finding quarantine?” Chloe’s mother asked, bubbly as always. Chloe looked over her shoulder at her friends, wanting to make sure they were out of ear shot, before continuing slowly away from them towards the pool area and beyond.</p><p>“It’s going well thanks.”</p><p>She’d called her mother shortly after getting off the phone to Beca back in Davis, telling the woman that she wouldn’t be heading home to quarantine with her parents as originally planned, and instead would be heading to LA to quarantine with Beca. She’d been excited. And her mother had insinuated that perhaps she and Beca might ‘get together’ if sharing quarantine in the same house. Chloe had rolled her eyes, having forgotten that she’d told her mother years ago just how much she was ‘<em>in love</em>’ with her best friend.</p><p>“And you and Beca?” Mrs Beale asked, and Chloe couldn’t help the coy grin on her face, noting how obvious it was through her mother’s voice that the woman was smiling.</p><p>“We’ve um…we’ve actually starting dating!” she replied in an optimistic tone, a chuckle falling from her mouth when her mother let out a squeal of delight.</p><p>“I <em>knew</em> you’d both get your acts together!” Mrs Beale gushed, but Chloe’s stomach twisted when she remembered that Beca didn’t want to keep dating her beyond quarantine.</p><p>“Calm down Mom, we’re not…” Chloe paused to let out a heavy sigh, her hand moving from her stomach to her face as she rubbed it gently, almost attempting to massage the disappointment from her body, “…it’s only while we’re in quarantine.” she added in a sad tone.</p><p>“Huh?” the confusion was evident and Chloe let out a tut, bringing her gaze to the pink sky above her.</p><p>“Beca doesn’t want us to date after quarantine.” she explained and she heard an odd grunt come from down the phone, as though her mother was lost for words and trying to find one to respond with.</p><p>“She said that?” Mrs Beale eventually said, “Like…recently?”</p><p>“Well no, we kinda…we mutually agreed it a couple of days ago. When we started quarantine-dating.” Chloe, distracted, scuffed the heels of her sandals over and over across a line between two paving slabs that lined some of the outdoor pool.</p><p>“And you want that?” the older woman asked, tentatively, clearly aware of how sensitive her youngest child was feeling right now.</p><p>“Well no Mom, obviously not.” Chloe whined, turning on the spot to check on The Bellas again and, pleased none of them had approached to check up on her, turned back and slowly began wandering further through the grounds, over the grass, “You know how long I’ve been in love with her.”</p><p>“I know sweetheart.”</p><p>“I just hate that I’m currently in the midst of having it all and at some point it’s just all suddenly going to end!”</p><p>There was a long pause and Chloe furrowed her brow. It was rare for her mother to have not replied by now. She always wanted to fill Chloe with hope or sound advice to help calm her down. But for some reason Mrs Beale remained quiet.</p><p>“Mom?”</p><p>“Make the most of this time you have together now. You never know what tomorrow might bring.”</p><p>That was it? <em>That</em> was her mother’s advice? Because Chloe <em>was</em> trying to make the most of it!</p><p>———</p><p>The Bellas let out cheers when Beca finally stepped out into the back yard with a tired smile on her face and a bottle of beer in her hand. She threw a slow arm into the air as though celebrating, and the women all chuckled as she slowly headed over to the large seat she’d shared with Chloe a couple of nights ago.</p><p>Tucked up in a large blanket, Chloe beamed at the brunette, tugging some of the blanket free to allow Beca space to settle in beside her. Their hearts raced with excitement, thrilled to finally have time to be sat so close together amongst the company of their friends. And Beca’s right hand swiftly ducked beneath the material to find and hold Chloe’s left hand.</p><p>“Finally finished for the day?” Chloe asked quietly as the rest of The Bellas continued with their respective conversations. Beca took a swig of beer before letting out a tired yet satisfied sigh, squeezing Chloe’s hand gently.</p><p>“Yeah.” she confirmed, smiling as she looked into the flames of the fire as they danced in the pit, “I think I’ve done all that I can for now.”</p><p>Chloe couldn’t take her eyes off Beca, a calm smile on her face. It was weird, they’d only been apart for a few hours, but Chloe had missed her so much. Now she relished in the opportunity to marvel at Beca’s beauty, her face lit by the fire while the environment around them remained dark.</p><p>———</p><p>Hours passed and the women around the fire pit had slowly got quieter and quieter as they became drowsy from the mix of the day’s sun, evening alcohol, and night fire.</p><p>Bella was curled up on Stacie’s lap, fast asleep. Emily was jotting things down in her notebook. Cynthia Rose was scoring shapes into the dirt with one of the metal skewers. Lily seemed to be trying to heat some metal in the fire that looked suspiciously like a blade (presumably for the knife handle she’d been carving earlier). Aubrey was busy typing on her phone. Flo was nowhere to be seen but a nice sweet scent could be smelt coming from inside so presumably the Guatemalan was prepping something for breakfast. Jessica and Ashley seemed to be making bracelets. Fat Amy was somewhere in the grounds doing something. Beca had fallen asleep with her head rested on Chloe’s shoulder. And Chloe sat happily and comfortably, enjoying being cosied up with Beca in front of The Bellas and none of their friends calling them out on it.</p><p>“Anyone know what the time is?” Stacie asked with a tired voice, stroking her daughter’s hair absent minded.</p><p>“Just after midnight.” Aubrey mumbled in reply. Chloe’s eyebrows rose. In a way it felt later than that because she was so tired. On the flip-side, just after midnight meant Beca had only joined them a couple of hours ago.</p><p>She <em>had</em> hoped Beca might whisk her away. Perhaps take her to the roof for another date, or to even be a little daring and continue what Amy had interrupted this morning (but out in the open). But Beca had fallen asleep not too long ago and Chloe couldn’t blame her - the woman had been working so hard today. And it sounded like the record label wouldn’t be letting her relax any time soon.</p><p>“I’m going to bed.” Chloe mumbled, assuming that if she were the first to suggest it, The Bellas would all follow. And for the most part, they did, each citing that they too were tired or feeling sleepy or wanted to be at their best tomorrow. Her hope was that they’d all go to bed ahead of her then she could hang back with Beca for a bit. But to her frustration, her friends loitered.</p><p>“We calling it?” she heard Beca ask in a groggy voice, taking a deep sleepy intake of breath through her nose and sitting upright with a yawn.</p><p>“Yeah, looks like it.” Chloe replied, trying not to sound too disappointed. Beca was tired and had every right to be. Perhaps with a good chunk of sleep under her belt she’d feel more alert tomorrow. Would perhaps feel a bit more enthused with the idea of sneaking away just the two of them..</p><p>As they both stood and Chloe led the way in following their friends indoors, she felt her hand being taken, Beca pulling her to a stop. A soft smile swept across Chloe’s face. Perhaps she’d been wrong. Perhaps Beca would whisk her away somewhere hidden from The Bellas for the night.</p><p>“I’ve organised something for you.” Beca said, and Chloe could just make out in the low light the brunette looking a little anxious. Chloe’s eyes, however, lit up in intrigue.</p><p>“<em>Really</em>??” she asked, a grin spreading across her face. But Beca held her palms out towards her to try to slow her mind down. She knew full well that Chloe would quickly become consumed by the idea of a surprise and construct a million options of what it could be before Beca could even get another sentence out. So Chloe paused, waiting for more information. But the only other bit of information Beca provided was:</p><p>“It’s not until the morning.”</p><p>Chloe’s shoulders slumped. She’d have to wait until morning? But…that felt like <em>forever</em> away! To her surprise, Beca simply smiled gently.</p><p>“Don’t get dispondent.” the brunette added, squeezing Chloe’s hand affectionately, “I just thought I should tell you in case you were wondering why I hadn’t taken you anywhere private this evening.”</p><p>“Because you’ve been planning a surprise for me?” Chloe asked curiously and Beca simply chuckled, then shrugged.</p><p>“Of sorts.”</p><p>Chloe had no idea what that meant. But just as she opened her mouth to probe further, Beca brought her index finger to Chloe’s lips, pressing gently on her top lip to insist the woman didn’t ask any more questions.</p><p>“Trust me. Just get some sleep now and you’ll be in top condition to be surprised in the morning.”</p><p>“So it <em>is</em> a surprise.” Chloe replied with an excitable smile, and at Beca’s eye-roll, the redhead threw her head back and laughed loudly.</p><p>“Am I going to like it??” she eventually asked once her laughter had subsided, and for some reason, Beca’s smile waivered.</p><p>“I hope so.”</p><p>“Are you sure you don’t want to at least give me a clue?”</p><p>“No!” Beca quickly insisted with a grin before surging forward to place a quick firm kiss on Chloe’s lips, “Now go to bed before I accidentally tell you what it is!”</p><p>Chloe let out a delightful giggle, giving Beca a brief kiss on the lips on return before scuttling away into the house. Beca stared at the patio doors that Chloe had disappeared through. A vacant smile was on her face. She was both excited and apprehensive about tomorrow.</p><p>“God I hope she’s gonna like it.” Beca muttered as Fat Amy approached and stood by her side, hands on her hips while slightly out of breath.</p><p>“She’s gonna love it, Beca.”</p><p>Beca turned to her friend anxiously, “How do you know?”</p><p>“Because she loves <em>you</em>.”</p><p>And Beca let out a shaky sigh in an attempt to release some of her pent up worry. She hoped loving her would be enough..</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chloe let out a light hum as she felt fingertips delicately smoothing across her forehead and through her hair. A drowsy smile swept over her face when she heard a familiar voice speaking softly to her:</p><p>“Morning sleepyhead.”</p><p>Her eyes fluttered open, taking a few moments to adjust to the light, but as soon as they had she felt her heart skip a beat. There, perched on the edge of the bed and somehow looking <em>serene</em>, was Beca. Beca who seemed contented and happy yet anxious and on edge about something. And that was when Chloe remembered what Beca had said last night.</p><p>So with a deep intake of breath through her nose and a small yawn, Chloe slowly turned from her front to her back and sat up with a smile. She briefly glanced around the room, surprised but relieved to see that Emily wasn’t anywhere to be seen. They were alone.</p><p>“I’m ready for my surprise now.” she croaked, enjoying the sound of the chuckle that fell from Beca’s mouth. Chloe had always <em>loved</em> surprises. And since going into quarantine with her, Beca had always loved Chloe’s reaction to surprises. So this was a win-win for both women.</p><p>“Alright alright.” Beca replied, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves…or excitement (Chloe couldn’t tell). “But first I have to ask you a couple of questions.”</p><p>Chloe swiped her tongue across her lips from left to right, her mouth feeling dry having probably slept with her mouth wide open overnight. She was a snorer. Not a big snorer. But she had a tendency to ‘mew’ a bit in her sleep. Which Beca had kindly informed her of the second week that they’d started living together in Brooklyn. Chloe was amazed the woman had even heard it over the sound of Fat Amy’s rumbling snores in the bed next to theirs. But even back then Beca had insisted it was no big deal. She’d actually commented how cute it’d sounded.</p><p>“Okaaay?” Chloe replied curiously, and the way Beca was hesitating Chloe would be mistaken in assuming the woman was about to <em>propose</em> to her. But Beca had said it was <em>a couple </em>of questions and a proposal was just <em>one</em> question. So there was no way what Beca wanted to ask her would be something as crazy as a pro-</p><p>“Will you marry me?”</p><p>The bedroom fell silent and Chloe froze, her mouth hung open slightly as she attempted to comprehend what Beca had just asked her. That Beca had…just…<em>proposed</em> to her. Just like that! After…<em>three days</em> of dating?? After only <em>two</em> dates? It was so far from a ‘Beca Thing’ to do. If anything it was more of a ‘Chloe Thing’, to go full pelt. Beca planned big things maticulously. So had she <em>really</em> planned out how a wedding or married life would go?? The woman who had claimed little more than thirty two hours ago that she didn’t even know if she ever <em>wanted</em> to get married.</p><p>“Your silence is unsettling.” Beca’s nervous voice shook Chloe from her stunned daze, and the redhead cleared her throat, blinking several times as if returning to reality.</p><p>“Sorry I just…I thought you didn’t want to get married?”</p><p>“Yeah but <em>you</em> do.“ Beca answered, and no sooner did she see Chloe furrow her brow, she began to explain, “I heard an interview somewhere once and the person said that you never get married for yourself, you get married for the other person.”</p><p>Chloe swallowed loudly. Beca would get married to her…<em>for</em> her?</p><p>An affectionate smile grew on Beca’s face while she gently confessed what she’d been wanting to tell Chloe since they’d started dating, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you whether we get married or not.” adding kindly, “And you <em>want</em> to get married.”</p><p>There was a pause, Chloe’s heart continuing to race, tears shining in her eyes that still showed signs of sleep in the corners. But she didn’t feel sleepy. And she certainly didn’t feel groggy any more. She felt more awake and alive than she ever had before.</p><p>“So let’s not waste time and just…” Beca paused to take a shaky breath, looking at Chloe nervously, “…get married. If you want to. Because I’m in love with you. And I don’t want us to break up after quarantine. I don’t want us to break up ever-”</p><p>“-I want to.” Chloe suddenly burst, a smile springing onto her face. But to her surprise, Beca’s eyebrows rose, and Chloe saw a look of disappointment appear.</p><p>“Um..” Beca began, but Chloe realised her reply must’ve meant that she wanted them to break up. So in a rush of panic and urgency, she reached out to take Beca’s hands.</p><p>“Get married!” she insisted, looking deep into Beca’s eyes with a smile on her face, hoping to reassure the woman before her who was already looking relieved, “I want to get married. To you.”</p><p>A huge sigh of relief rushed from Beca’s mouth, a grin spreading across her face while her hands remained held by Chloe’s as the redhead continued, “I’d get married to you in a heartbeat because I love you <em>so</em> much, and nothing would make me happier than becoming your wife and spending the rest of our lives together.” she paused to catch her breath, letting out a chuckle at the sound of Beca’s chuckle, her heart warming at the sight of Beca’s smile.</p><p>“Well that leads me to my second question.”</p><p>Chloes eyebrows rose. Of course! The second question! She’d been so caught up in Beca’s proposal (and rightfully so) that she’d completely forgotten that the woman had informed her that there were <em>two</em> questions. But if the first question had been the biggest question any person could ask anyone in their whole life, then what the hell kind of question could follow it up?</p><p>“Will you marry me right now?”</p><p>For the second time since waking, Chloe was stunned, frozen to the spot while trying to comprehend Beca’s words again and what they meant. When she finally took a breath, all she could choke out was:</p><p>“Right…now?” a tiny smile appearing in the corners of her mouth as Beca nodded with a grin.</p><p>“Right here, right now, in this very house.”</p><p>Okay, what was happening?? Beca didn’t <em>do</em> things like this - spontaneity. Was this just a whim? Would Beca suddenly freak out in a couple of hours time and insist they got divorced?? And that was even if they <em>could</em> get married right here right now. It was one thing to sneak around together without The Bellas knowing but to get <em>married</em>…</p><p>“I know what you’re thinking.” Beca added calmly, “How are we even going to get married? Have I even thought this through? What about The Bellas? What about our parents?”</p><p>Oh god. Chloe hadn’t even thought about her parents or siblings. They’d be devastated to miss her wedding. And Aubrey would be upset to not be her maid of honour. And-</p><p>“Well to start with, The Bellas already know about us.” Chloe let out a small gasp and Beca looked at her apologetically, “Yeah I know. They’ve known for a couple of days.”</p><p>The Bellas had known?? Aubrey hadn’t said anything! Hadn’t even given her a knowing look or sent her a text or…</p><p>“But it’s thanks to them knowing, that I’ve been able to arrange a way for us to get married in quarantine..” Chloe sniffed, a broad smile breaking across her face as Beca added quietly, “Everything looks beautiful Chlo. And it’s gonna be perfect. Trust me.”</p><p>“I <em>do</em> trust you.” Chloe blubbed, a tear falling down her cheek, still smiling, “Of <em>course</em> I trust you.” and without taking another beat she released Beca’s hands to fling her arms around the brunette’s neck, pulling her into a tight embrace and kissing her firmly on the lips.</p><p>She heard and felt a giggle bubbling from within Beca and she herself couldn’t help letting out a chuckle, breaking the kiss with a beaming grin. She watched Beca swipe at a tear on <em>her</em> cheek, and Chloe realised the woman had become a bit emotional too.</p><p>“So…what now?” the redhead asked, sniffing again and letting out another chuckle. They were engaged. They were going to get married. Like…<em>now</em>! In a minute. In like the next hour maybe. Probably. She assumed.</p><p>“Oh. Yeah.” Beca replied, grinning as she wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffed loudly before letting out a contented sigh, “Go to Aubrey and Stacie’s room.”</p><p>“Just me?”</p><p>“Just you.” Beca confirmed with a soft smile, nodding gently before adding, “And I’ll see you in a little while.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Hello June Beale?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Beca cleared her throat at the sound of Chloe’s mother’s voice down the phone. Her wireless earbuds rested in her ears while she sat at her desk, her MacBook open in front of her and her phone resting beside it. Her heart raced with nerves as she opened her mouth and spoke as clearly and confidently as possible.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hey uh June! It-It’s me, Beca. Chloe’s old housemate?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Beca!!” June burst, and a smile spread across Beca’s face at the sound of Chloe’s mother voice oozing familiarity and excitement that mirrored her youngest daughter’s beautifully, “You don’t have to <b>explain</b> who you are! Of course I know you!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Beca’s hands landed on her cheeks, cupping her face as she tried to eradicate her embarrassment. The woman was right. Having known Chloe for over a decade, having lived with her, and having visited The Beale family home on more than one occasion, it was no surprise that Mrs Beale knew exactly who she was.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“How’s my little Coco getting on?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Beca smiled at the little nickname Chloe’s mother had always called her since a baby. It was cute. Just like Chloe really.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She’s doing great. Thanks. She and I um…” Beca paused, swallowing loudly. Here went nothing. Best case scenario was that Chloe had already told her Mom and Dad that they were dating and that they were pleased about it. Worst case scenario? Beca telling them and both of them being outraged. “…I-I dunno if she’s told you already but we’ve started dating.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There was this long pause. And with that long pause Beca dreaded what would happen next. An inevitable ‘<b>What</b>?!’ bellowed at her or something to that effect. After all, for the parents who had raised five straight children before Chloe (who Beca wasn’t even sure had ever told them that she’d gone on dates with both guys and girls when living in Brooklyn) the idea of their baby girl dating a woman would more than likely repulse them.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But to Beca’s surprise a huge squeal of delight blasted down the phone, closely followed by a man’s voice, asking June what the hell was going on.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Chloe and Beca have started dating!!” June shrieked excitably.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Ugh <b>finally</b>!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Beca furrowed her brow. Wait…they’d <b>wanted</b> her and Chloe to date?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Beca,” June finally returned to the phone conversation, her smile radiating through her voice, “you have no idea how happy we both are to hear this!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You are?” Beca asked, still pretty stunned by Chloe’s parent’s reactions.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes! <b>God</b> she’s been crazy about you for <b>years</b>!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She has?” a broad smile spread across Beca’s mouth at the thought of being so lucky that the girl she loved had loved her for so long.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“<b>Yes</b>! And you worked so well together with The Bellas, then lived together in Brooklyn, taking care of each other…John and I hoped you’d one day both come to your senses and get together!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Beca chuckled, taking a deep breath before sitting upright, her fingertips skimming gently across the keys of her MacBook while staring whistfully at the screen. She was looking on Pinterest for homemade wedding ideas, hoping something would jump out at her for the most ideal wedding. Money was no object. But the current pandemic definitely meant most businesses were no longer working. Which made it all the more challenging.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Then I hope what I’m about to ask you will go down okay with you.” she finally said, taking a deep breath, knowing that June was likely gripping her own phone very tightly, keen to hear the question. “Could I ask your permission to marry Chloe?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Another squeal of delight burst from her earbuds and Beca grinned while squeezing her eyes shut.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“John!!! Beca wants to propose to Chloe!!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What??”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She wants to <b>propose</b>, John!! To ask her to marry her!!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Suddenly Beca heard the door to the studio crash open and the brunette jumped, immediately snapping her MacBook closed to hide the contents of the screen. And it was a good job she had, because as she spun around in her chair she saw Chloe stood just inside the doorway. She swallowed loudly. Fuck.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Did you want a coffee?” Chloe asked, slightly breathless. Beca watched the woman glance around the studio and she felt a bit guilty. She’s not seen much of Chloe today since leaving the bathroom this morning. In fact she’d been so caught up in the idea of proposing to her then marrying her that Beca had failed to speak to Chloe much at all. But right now she needed to get all of this sorted. Without the redhead around. Then she could finally spend some time with Chloe like she so desperately wanted to.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Uh no. No I’m good. Thanks.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There was a pause and Beca was highly aware that Chloe’s parents were still waiting on the other end of the phone, their hushed voices sounding through her right earbud. Unbeknownst to their own daughter of course.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Have I said something to upset you or offend you or…?” Chloe asked, wringing her hands nervously.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“-No!” Beca quickly insisted, rising to her feet, tugging the other bud from her ear and placing both down by her phone beside her MacBook. “No you definitely haven’t.” she strode over to Chloe, reaching for her hands and holding them by their sides, “I’ve just been swamped. I spoke to the label earlier about the mixing desk. They were pretty mad about it and insisted I still produce some music.” By now Beca had completely forgotten that Chloe’s parents were listening-in via her abandoned ear buds on the desk nearby. “They’ve also sent over a killer regime that they want me to try to stick to so they stay on target to release new material by Fall.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Beca hated the idea she was letting Chloe down. Everything she was saying was true. She <b>had</b> been in conversation with the label. She <b>had</b> been given a killer regime that she had no idea how to tackle. But right now, her main priority (that she couldn’t tell Chloe about just yet) was to organise the best damn wedding Chloe deserved given the current worldwide pandemic..</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She watched as Chloe gripped her bottom lip, leaning her face a bit closer to the brunette’s, “It’s okay.” she mumbled affectionately, and Beca felt as though she was melting. Because <b>of course</b> Chloe would understand. She’d always been so patient with Beca. So understanding whenever the woman confessed to having heaps of work that distracted her from real-life goings on around her. “I was just being unreasonable.” Chloe added but Beca quickly shook her head.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“No you weren’t.” Beca replied apologetically, “I wasn’t clear with you. I’m sorry.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And had the two women been flies on the wall at The Beale’s family home, they would’ve seen Chloe’s parents huddled around June Beale’s phone, smiling affectionately. Clearly pleased to hear that both Chloe and Beca were equally respectful of one another - an important trait in a successful marriage.</em>
</p><p>Chloe walked slowly in a daze towards Beca’s room, a dopey grin on her face. They were going to get married. Today. <em>Now</em>! All her dreams coming together. All in quarantine.</p><p>As she reached a hand out and pushed Beca’s bedroom door open, her dopey grin changed to a look of shock. Not because the room was decorated beautifully - filled with flowers and homemade bunting. But because stood in the middle of the room were Aubrey and Stacie sharing what looked to be a sweet and peaceful kiss, Aubrey cupping Stacie’s cheeks while Stacie’s hands rested comfortably on the blonde’s hips.</p><p>“Wow.” Chloe chimed, a broad smile across her face as her two friends snapped apart in embarrassment, “A proposal and now this? How many more surprises am I gonna get today?” She delighted in the way both Aubrey and Stacie blushed and had she not already been so deliriously excited, Chloe would’ve noted how different it was seeing Stacie embarrassed about being caught. Stacie who, in college, would cackle almost hysterically at the compromising position she’d been caught in. Had Chloe taken time to notice, it would’ve occurred to her that perhaps Stacie had really deep and serious feelings for Aubrey.</p><p>“You’re getting marrieeeeed!” Aubrey cooed with a beaming grin on her face, dashing up to the redhead to pull her into a tight hug.</p><p>“And if I wasnnnnn’t then I’d be interrogating you twooooo!” Chloe sang in response, a chuckle trickling from her mouth as she hugged her best friend back. Aubrey and Stacie were lucky she was otherwise occupied by whatever beautiful wedding Beca had organised. But that wouldn’t mean she’d keep from asking them so many questions about their obvious relationship. Like how long for? When? How did it happen? Was it serious? She’d ask for all of the information some point soon.</p><p>For now, however, a gasp left her mouth and she stepped out of Aubrey’s arms as Stacie pulled out a beautiful white dress from within a nearby closet. It was a long simple halter neck, with no embellishments - very clearly a casual pool-dress for a hot summers day. But upon first impression, given the current appearance of the room they were stood in and the theme of the day, it was the most <em>perfect</em> wedding dress.</p><p>Chloe looked to Stacie, then to Aubrey, “Is that…for me?” and she strode towards the outfit with an excitable giggle, gently taking hold of it with her eyes shining, “God it’s <em>perfect</em>!”</p><p>It was odd, Chloe had always imagined a big wedding with a good couple of years planning, a long weekend spent trying on beautiful bridal gowns in New York, a huge bachelorette, and months of attempting to coordinate caterers and florists and a DJ… And despite all that, the second Beca had asked her to marry her that very day, all of those things she’d imagined just disappeared. She didn’t care about those experiences any more. She didn’t care about all the gowns or the bachelorette or the caterers or the months or planning. All she cared about was Beca, and being able to <em>marry</em> Beca.</p><p>———</p><p>Beca fiddled anxiously with the waistline of her white dress. A dress she’d worn last year for an awards ceremony and hadn’t looked twice at since then. Until yesterday when she’d been trying to find some sort of wedding dress for herself <em>and</em> for Chloe. Thankfully Jessica had pulled out that corker of a white dress for Chloe from her own suitcase, and Cynthia Rose had raided Beca’s closests to eventually come across the dress that Beca was wearing right now.</p><p>She looked over her shoulder as Emily bustled into the room, the younger woman looking a little flustered as she held two pairs of heels in one hand and a pair of flats in another.</p><p>“Right!” Emily said with a heavy sigh as she swung the door closed behind her and held the footwear up, “I had another rummage in your closets and these are the best shoes I could find.”</p><p>The room (that <em>had</em> been Emily and Chloe’s shared room) seemed like a hive of activity as Cynthia Rose put the finishing touches to Beca’s hair while Amy stared at herself in the mirror, inspecting her appearance. Beca swallowed loudly and her heart began racing as she became increasingly aware of the noise levels her friends made as they spoke over each other.</p><p>While Aubrey had assured Beca that both she and Stacie (and Bella) would sort Chloe out, the brunette still had a tiny natural niggle deep down that her future wife <em>could</em> still suddenly decide that this was all crazy. Because it was…right?</p><p>
  <em>“Hey Dad.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hey Bec! How’re things going in quarantine?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Beca sat back in her chair, still in the studio, still in front of her MacBook, still looking through Pinterest for inspiration. She’d told her record label in a team meeting moments ago that she was going to marry her girlfriend (of whom they were <b>very</b> surprised to hear about). Before that she’d asked Chloe’s parents’ permission to marry their youngest daughter (of which they’d joyfully said “yes!!”). And now she really needed to inform her father.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah it’s…” she paused to find the best way to sum up the whirlwind that the past three days had been, “…been busy.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A chuckle sounded from her Dad, and she couldn’t help the small smile on her face. They’d had a rollercoaster of a relationship while Beca had been growing up. But since maturing towards the end of her time at Barden University - typically just in time to leave Atlanta and with it her father (and step-mother) - Beca had found a new stage in her relationship with the man she’d once butted-heads with so often in the past. Funnily enough, adulthood had widened Beca’s eyes to the reality of how complicated and emotionally draining having a job and bills was. And it was this newfound mutual understanding that had her sympathising with her father. Plus her brilliant rise through the ranks at a top recording company followed by a successful record label signing certainly helped things along the way..</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“The label working you hard again?” the man asked kindly, but Beca gripped her bottom lip for a moment.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah and The Bellas conveniently rocked up on my doorstep <b>just</b> as LA went into lockdown.” and she added sarcastically, “So that’s been fun.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She didn’t mean to sound so unenthused. She loved The Bellas. Truly she did. But she still caught herself wondering how quarantine would’ve been had she and Chloe had the whole place to themselves.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“How’re you and Sheila?” Beca asked conversationally. She wasn’t avoiding breaking the news about her and Chloe. Much. Absolutely not.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh you know how it is Bec.” the man replied with a tired sigh, “Things have been hard since Sheila lost her job and the College is now closed so I’m trying to figure out how to work from home..”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Do you need any money?” Beca immediately asked, sitting forward in her chair a little. She was a multi-millionaire now. She’d tried to give him money before but neither he nor her step-mother would accept it. Still she offered.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Definitely not.” Dr Mitchell insisted, “No, you’ve earned that money fair and square. You spend it on whatever you want, we’ll be okay.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“But I want to spend it on you.” Beca tried, but her father ignored her, and Beca quickly realised that particular conversation was over.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“So having The Bellas has been a bit like being back in college again then huh?” he asked, changing the subject quickly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“But with one big difference.” Beca took a huge intake of breath and held it until her lungs ached. Time to ruin her Dad’s life. “Chloe and I have started dating.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh.” Confused. That was exactly how her father sounded and Beca couldn’t blame him. This was really out of the blue. Not only had she and Chloe not really seen each other in two years before quarantine, they’d also only been living together for three days. Oh and the whole <b>lesbian</b> thing. Yeah that would undoubtably come as a massive surprise to her Dad. “Wait, haven’t you been dating the past few years?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What?” Beca’s eyes bulged as she suddenly flung herself forward in her chair, her earbuds fortunately remaining in her ears as her hands gripped the arms of her chair. “No!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“So you weren’t dating right after Jesse??” Beca’s brow furrowed but an amused smile had swept into her face.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“<b>No</b>!” she exclaimed, “Why would you think that?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Well excuse me for thinking the woman you were <b>sharing a bed with </b>was your girlfriend, Beca.” Dr Mitchell replied in a tone that revealed a dry sense of humour and it cause Beca’s smile to grow. Her Dad was actually okay with this? In fact <b>more</b> <b>than</b> okay with this because technically he’d spent the past few years under the impression that his daughter was already a lesbian. That she was already dating her female best friend.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There was a long pause. Then suddenly Beca let out a chuckle, which was shortly joined by her father’s chuckle.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“So you and Chloe are officially dating now.” her father said in a happy voice, “That’s great Bec. Honestly.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah! Jesse never supported you like Chloe did.” Beca winced at the second mention of her ex-boyfriend’s name. The guy who had broken up with Beca <b>four years ago </b>because she hadn’tfollowed him to LA and had instead gone to New York. For some reason her father still brought him up from time to time. Mostly when observing how much happier Beca was now she no longer had “the ball and chain” (as Dr Mitchell eventually called him) around her ankle.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Dad I’m gonna ask her to marry me. And if she says yes then we’re gonna get married…tomorrow.” It sounded absurd saying it out loud. Almost unbelievable. But it was the truth. If Chloe said yes (and Beca suspected she would) then Beca didn’t want to waste any time. Life was too short. “I know it seems too soon but honestly, Chloe makes me feel more loved and supported and happier than anything and anyone else.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She hadn’t realised that until now. She’d felt it, sure. But she hadn’t completely sat down and said clearly (either to herself nor out loud) that Chloe essentially meant <b>everything</b> to her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“If it feels right Beca,” she heard her father say, and her chest tightened. But to her relief, he was far happier about the news than she could’ve ever imagined, “then you should definitely go for it.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Seriously?” Beca replied, her eyebrows raised.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Seriously.” Dr Mitchell confirmed kindly, “You’re right, Chloe <b>does</b> make you happy. I’ve seen how happy you are around her. I always have. And it hasn’t passed me by how passionately she’s supported you for all the years you’ve known each other.” Beca smiled, looking over at the paper cutting Chloe had given her. He was right, Chloe <b>had</b> always been passionate about Beca and Beca’s abilities. She was so lucky to have such a strong cheerleader by her side.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Besides, you’re old enough now to know when the right time is. To make your own decisions. To make the leap that getting married is. And if you love Chloe and trust her then I am a million percent behind the two of you all the way.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Trust. Beca liked that word. She <b>absolutely</b> trusted Chloe with her body, mind and soul. Trusted that Chloe would do everything possible with Beca’s best interest in mind.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Thanks Dad.”</em>
</p><p>“You’ve got the vows, right Legacy?” Beca asked as Emily stood up straight, a satisfied smile on her face as she looked down at the heels she’d just slipped onto Beca’s feet.</p><p>“They’re right here.” Amy confirmed, reaching into the inside of her silver sequined suit jacket and pulling out two small sealed envelopes. Beca winced, holding a hand out as though the woman would mislay them right before her very eyes. She desperately hoped her decision to allow the Australian to be the online-ordained minister for her wedding wasn’t the worst decision she’d ever made. Right now, the sight of Amy in top-to-toe silver sequins that the woman’s pant-suit provided didn’t exactly fill Beca with hope. But there was no time for her to voice her concerns.</p><p>Sunrise was in twelve minutes. They’d need to leave imminently to get out to the area The Bellas had decorated overnight, by the pool, where Beca and Chloe would shortly be getting married. In front of their friends and family…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So how is this going to work?” Chloe asked nervously, taking several deep breaths once stepping outside, holding the very bouquet of flowers she’d arranged yesterday afternoon while looking at Aubrey and Stacie anxiously, “Do you guys go first with Bella then I follow? Or I go first and you guys follow? Or-” Chloe stopped abruptly when she realised the two women opposite her were frowning. “What?”</p><p>“Haven’t you realised?” Aubrey asked, and after a moments pause, she smiled softly at the redhead, “Beca suggested I walk you down the aisle. She spoke to your Dad about it and everything.”</p><p>Chloe felt a surge of emotion rush through her body, from her chest, up and out with the breath of air she suddenly exhaled. <em>Of course</em>! Aubrey of all people definitely deserved to have a role in this wedding. She’d been such a good and close friend to Chloe over all the years they’d known one another.</p><p>“Oh God. Aubrey, that’s perfect!” she burst, tears shining in her eyes.</p><p>———</p><p>“You okay?” Beca heard her father ask, and she turned to Flo who held Beca’s MacBook in her arms. Looking down at the screen, she let out a heavy shaky exhale, nodding with a smile. There her father sat in his home back in Atlanta, beside Sheila, and both looked at her from their position in front of the computer. Both smiling proudly. Both dressed in their very best outfits.</p><p>Beca had insisted yesterday that nobody needed to dress up. But with every iPad she was shown around this very beautiful basic intimate stage that Fat Amy had built last night, Beca had quickly realised that neither her family nor Chloe’s family had paid any attention to her insistence. The female members of the families sat in their respective homes, beautiful dresses worn and fancy fascinators, their hair and makeup done to perfection. The male members of the families sat with their respective wives, all in their best suits, scrubbing up well. And the children even looked smart - albeit confused as to why there was a ‘wedding on tv’ that they had to dress up for.</p><p>“Yeah.” Beca breathed out, nodding to confirm, “Just excited.”</p><p>“Excited?” Dr Mitchell asked with a grin, “Seriously? <em>My</em> daughter actually just described how she was feeling as being <em>excited</em>??”</p><p>Beca rolled her eyes, glancing away briefly before looking back at her father, nodding once again. She knew why his reaction was the way it was. She rarely described her emotion as being excited for anything or because of anything. ‘Excited’ wasn’t really in her repertoire. ‘Pleased’ was. She was often pleased about things or for people. But never excited.</p><p>“I’ve never known you to be excited about anything.” her father added with a chuckle, “Not even when you were a little girl.”</p><p>“Well I guess that goes to show how crazy I am about Chloe.” Beca replied slowly, suddenly distracted by Emily who was tapping her watch with her free hand, the ‘watch’ hand holding her own iPad precariously, with Chloe’s second eldest sister (and little family) on the screen. “Shit.” Beca mumbled, taking a noisy deep breath, and looking back at her father, “It’s nearly sunrise. Chloe will be coming down the aisle any second.”</p><p>She shook her hands from side to side as if attempting to quickly shake out her nerves. Or <em>were</em> they nerves? Perhaps this was what excitement felt like?</p><p>Beca stepped over to Fat Amy (in all her silver-sequinned glory), the place where Chloe would walk to, guided by Aubrey. The place where Beca and Chloe would get married.</p><p>“You good?” Amy asked with a grin and Beca let out a short sharp exhale.</p><p>“Yeah. Yeah I’ve never felt so good before.”</p><p>“I know what you mean.” the Australian agreed, and had Beca not just caught a brief glimpse of red hair over by the back door of the house, she would’ve insisted Amy had <em>no idea</em>. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so good or <em>looked</em> so good either.”</p><p>———</p><p>“Come on.” Aubrey said gently to Chloe, a kind smile on her face, “It’s time.”</p><p>Chloe swallowed loudly. She could already tell that it was nearing sunrise, the sky now a brilliant and beautiful pink. Had this been Beca’s plan? The dawning of a new day also being the dawning of the start of their future together? As <em>wives</em>.</p><p>She watched as Bella listened intently to Aubrey, who was mumbling sweet instructions into the little girl’s ear. Chloe noted how good the blonde was with Bella. Loved the sight of her crouched down at Bella’s level, her fingers curling Bella’s hair gently around the little girl’s left ear while she spoke. And it had Chloe feeling over the moon for her best friend. Aubrey was obviously very happy in her relationship with Stacie, and an awesome stepmom to Stacie’s daughter too. Something that was obviously mutually felt by Bella who smiled and nodded at the blonde, then very slowly made her way around the side of the building.</p><p>Chloe felt Aubrey guide her arm so it looped in hers, and the two women slowly made their way behind the almost-three year old. The path was lined with tiny lights and petals, and just as Chloe was about to turn another corner, she heard familiar lyrics sung slow and acoustically.</p><p>
  <em>‘Kiss me once because you know I had a long night.’</em>
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  <em>‘Kiss me twice cause it’s gonna be alright.’</em>
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  <em>‘Three times cause I’ve waited my whole life.’</em>
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  <em>‘One two three four’</em>
</p><p>Paper Rings. Beca had somehow found an acoustic slowed-down version of Paper Rings - the very song that Chloe had included in the paper cutting she’d given Beca a couple of days ago. A clue. And Beca must’ve got the hint. Not only was it an acoustic version, but it sounded exactly like Taylor Swift.</p><p>Chloe’s heart raced, a broad smile on her face as she eventually rounded the corner and her eyes drank in the most beautiful of layouts. Flower arrangements lining a small aisle, along that aisle were The Bellas, dressed in as best clothing their ‘last minute quarantine packing’ had allowed and their hair and makeup styled beautifully. They all smiled at Chloe (and Aubrey) as they approached, tears in their eyes. Chloe couldn’t believe that it had only been a couple of hours ago that she’d had no idea they knew that she and Beca had begun dating. Now they stood before her, beaming at her, truly and obviously thrilled about what was happening.</p><p>As she got closer, Chloe realised each Bella was holding an iPad, and as she looked at those iPads that was when a tear sprung from one eye. Because she recognised her eldest sister (and her family) watching her from the iPad in Cynthia Rose’s hands, her second eldest sister (and her family) watching from an iPad in Emily’s hands, her third and fourth older sisters (and their families) watching respectively from an iPad in Jessica’s hands and an iPad in Ashley’s hands, Lilly impressively appeared to be holding an iPad in each hand and from one her fifth older sister (and her two dogs) and her sixth older sister (and her boyfriend) watched. Every member of the family, viewing from their own homes, all dressed up beautifully (even Eleanor’s two dogs who sported bow ties on their collars!)</p><p>Chloe let out a chuckle, her mouth open in wonder at how perfect this all felt. Even amongst a worldwide pandemic, and all quarantined until something was figured out, her family were all still able to ‘attend’ a wedding. <em>Her</em> wedding. And as Chloe’s eyes found the iPad that Stacie was holding, towards the end of the ‘aisle’, she saw her parents looking back at her with beaming smiles on their faces. Chloe chuckled once again. So <em>that</em> had been what her mother had meant when she’d said that Beca had found a way..</p><p>
  <em>“I can’t believe I’m getting married.” Chloe gushed, taking several deep breaths while she held Aubrey’s phone to her ear. She heard her mother chuckle and a smile spread across her face.</em>
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  <em>“To the girl you’ve been in love with for yeeears Coco.” June Beale assured sweetly. Chloe placed a hand on her hip as she paced slowly up and down the length of Beca’s bedroom, getting used to the beautiful sandals that Aubrey had provided to go with her wedding dress. There was apparently only a couple of minutes to go. Then Aubrey would be guiding her down the aisle where Chloe would finally be reunited with Beca.</em>
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  <em>“Is it weird that we haven’t had sex yet?” Chloe asked bluntly. Having been the youngest of seven girls, it had never been taboo to talk about sex in The Beale household. Which was probably why Chloe had always been so forward about it in college. “It’s weird isn’t it. What if I’m the worst at it? I’ve never had sex with a girl before. What if I’m so bad she wants to divorce me?”</em>
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  <em>“Sweetheart, calm dowwwn.” Mrs Beale assured in an amused tone, “You’ll figure it out.” Chloe took another deep breath before her mother added, “If you’re really worried about it then just talk to Beca about it. She’ll be your wife. You’ll have to be honest with her about how you’re feeling and, knowing Beca, she’ll do everything possible to make you feel comfortable and happy.”</em>
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  <em>“What if I’m not enough for her?” Chloe suddenly asked, her insecurities now coming to the forefront of her mind, “She’s this crazy-successful recording artist and I’m just this student vet. The beautiful people she mixes with every day-”</em>
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  <em>“-Are not a patch on you, darling. Seriously.” Chloe swallowed loudly, her chest tight. Beca was going to realise what a big mistake she was making. She was going to call off the wedding, or eventually divorce her, or <b>something</b>. “Think about everything Beca’s done for you over the past few days. Think about all that you’ve been through together from the moment you met each other. After eleven years it’s <b>you</b> that Beca wants to marry and spend the rest of her life with. Not these fancy rich celebrities she mingles with. <b>You</b>. Because you’re her person.”</em>
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  <em>“Been watching Grey’s Anatomy again, Mom?” Chloe asked curiously, and she could practically <b>hear</b> her mother smiling.</em>
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  <em>“The old seasons are the best.”</em>
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  <em>Chloe hummed thoughtfully. She supposed her mother was right. Beca wouldn’t have done all that she had if she didn’t think the world of her. She wouldn’t have proposed and organised a frikkin wedding in like 24 hours. But she had.</em>
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  <em>“I wish you were here.” Chloe mumbled sadly.</em>
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  <em>“What makes you think Beca hasn’t organised something for us?” June teased, and Chloe’s eyebrows rose.</em>
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  <em>“Has she??”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You’ll find out soon.”</em>
</p><p>Chloe spied Beca’s father and stepmother on the screen of Beca’s MacBook that was being held by Flo. But her attention on the couple who were soon to become her in-laws was fleeting. Because suddenly Beca stepped into view at the end of the aisle, and Chloe’s heart skipped a beat.</p><p>Beca’s expression was nothing but joy and warmth and love and adoration. And all of Chloe’s insecurities disappeared. Because of course Beca would never want her to feel uncomfortable about anything. Of course Beca would choose her over anyone else she knew. Just as Chloe would choose Beca, over and over and over again until the end of time. That was what this was all about. Why they were ‘suddenly’ getting married.</p><p>But really, if she took the time to think about it, marrying Beca wasn’t a ‘sudden’ thing. It was years in the making. Years of bonding and teamwork and closeness. Years of arguing and fighting but quickly reconciling. Years of support and understanding and consoling. Years of mutual respect and trust. Years of vulnerability and protection and love.</p><p>That was what a partnership - what <em>marriage</em> - was built on. And Beca and Chloe had it. They’d continue to have it, and build on it, and grow it. Let it flourish and blossom. Their families and friends had seen and known it for years. Beca and Chloe had been destined to come together like this. Perhaps the whole ‘quarantine’ side of it hadn’t been envisioned, but their marriage had been.</p><p>Chloe arrived at Beca’s side, receiving a kiss on the cheek from Aubrey before the blonde stepped away. The music came to an end and she opened her mouth, ready to compliment Beca on how <em>stunning</em> she looked. But before she could, a booming voice bellowed in front of her and she jumped:</p><p>“BEHOLD!”</p><p>Chloe blinked several times, trying to take in the bombardment of silver sequins before her. Trust Amy to not only be wearing a sequined pant-suit, but to have packed it in her suitcase in the first place. The Australian stood beneath the makeshift canopy that had been erected the night before. And behind her the sun was slowly beginning to rise.</p><p>“We are all gathered here this morning to witness two of the most oblivious women I’ve ever known.”</p><p>Beca rolled her eyes, but upon hearing Chloe chuckle, she too chuckled. She turned to look at the redhead beside her, her heart pounding as she reached over and took Chloe’s hand.</p><p>Chloe glanced over at Beca and felt the woman squeeze her hand. In an instant Chloe felt calm. She may have felt worried earlier, but she quickly realised that worry had been unnecessary. Because so long as she had Beca and Beca had her, they could take on the world.</p><p>———</p><p>“So…” Chloe paused to let out a contented sigh, looking around whilst holding a glass of champagne in her hand. She sat upright on one of the sunloungers by the pool. Beca perched on her lap with a glass of champagne in her own hand. Both still wore their wedding dresses. The Bellas sat around them. Some on sunloungers, some on the floor. Naturally Bella had launched herself into the pool with her pretty little dress on, Stacie having finally caved and putting arm bands on her to allow her into the water. “…how did you guys manage all of this??”</p><p>The Bellas all turned to Beca who had been smiling affectionately at <em>her wife.</em></p><p>“We have a pretty talented family.” Beca explained, referring to the women around them as their ‘family’ which sent a warmth radiating across Chloe’s body. They’d only been married an hour. Chloe had briefly spoken to her siblings who, as it turned out, had been part of one large video group chat throughout the buildup to and during the wedding, so speaking to them all had been relatively stress-free. The newlyweds had spoken to Beca’s father and stepmother, then to Chloe’s parents. Then they’d gone down to the poolside to return to The Bellas who had provided chilled bottles of champagne and a light buffet breakfast to celebrate.</p><p>“Stacie and I sourced outfits for you guys.” Cynthia Rose explained first.</p><p>“I did the cake and breakfast.” Flo added with a raised hand.</p><p>“I wrote your vows.” Emily said, and Chloe smiled gratefully. They really <em>had</em> been beautiful words. “And found Beca’s shoes.”</p><p>“Lilly was the technician, sorting out the filming and photography.” Beca continued, “Jessica and Ashley made our rings.” Chloe gasped, looking down at her paper wedding ring that fitted her wedding finger perfectly, Beca adding, “Which of course we’ll have forever, though our actual rings are being made of gold as we speak.” there was a pause then Beca pointed to Aubrey, “Aubrey’s been keeping our families in the loop and running them through timings.”</p><p>“Which was fairly easy because there was only really a three hour time difference.” Aubrey explained and Beca nodded in agreement.</p><p>“Exactly.” then the brunette pointed to Fat Amy who was still very much in her silver sequinned pant-suit, “And Amy desperately wanted to be our minister so she worked hard yesterday getting ordained.”</p><p>Amy rose a <em>bottle</em> of champagne that she was drinking from, a big smile on her face, “Had to make it up to you after the mixing desk fiasco.”</p><p>Chloe winced, but fortunately her wife simply chuckled, “Yeah which <em>luckily</em> the label are sneaking an engineer in to fix tomorrow. So no more problems there.” Beca motioned to the canopy across the way, where the wedding had taken place an hour ago, “And the flowers were all the arrangements that you and The Bellas did yesterday afternoon.”</p><p>“You knew you were going to propose by then??” Chloe asked, her eyes wide while she beamed at Beca in awe, her free hand smoothing up and down the woman’s back.</p><p>“Oh yeah, definitely!” Beca replied in a relaxed tone, “I’d told the girls, and Jessica and Ashley suggested they bring forward the ‘flower arranging’ activity so that you guys could all make some arrangements for the wedding without you realising.”</p><p>Chloe looked around at their friends, all of whom were grinning mischievously. She couldn’t believe they’d all been in on it, and at no point had hinted to her about what was going on. She was amazed.</p><p>“Have you shown her the room yet?” Fat Amy asked with a grin, and Chloe furrowed her brow, turning to Beca curiously. Beca who rolled her eyes.</p><p>“Obviously not, Amy. We’ve been a bit busy getting married?”</p><p>“What room?” Chloe asked, her smile growing the more curious she became and the more flustered Beca seemed.</p><p>———</p><p>Chloe allowed Beca to guide her through the house by her hand. Past small piles of chaos that were in the lounge area and the kitchen area (and past a beautiful looking wedding cake on display that Chloe hadn’t noticed earlier). Past discarded curling irons and heels in the hallway. All until they came to a stop outside Beca’s room. The room that Chloe had got ready in.</p><p>“I gave the girls one instruction.” Beca explained nervously, “Make my room <em>our</em> room. Make it a bridal suite.”</p><p>Chloe took that to mean that Beca had absolutely no idea what was behind the door any more than she did. But if Beca had asked their friends - and their friends truly <em>did</em> care about them - then why was she nervous?</p><p>As the newlyweds stepped into the room, hand in hand, a gasp left both their mouths. There was no longer an assortment of couch cushions on the floor acting as a makeshift bed. No slobby Fat Amy bedding scrunched around on the large bed. No, the large bed now had beautiful fresh bedding. On top were an arrangement of rose petals. Hundreds of mini oragami hearts had been carefully laid out, in rainbow colours in the shape of a rainbow on top of the fresh bed sheets. Helium balloons in the shape of red hearts floated around the ceiling. And a vase of flowers rested on both bedside tables - a card beside one, and distastefully a bottle of baby oil beside the other.</p><p>“Three guesses who the oil’s from.” Beca muttered unimpressed as she motioned to the bottle, but Chloe just chuckled.</p><p>“It’s beautiful.” she replied, before looking to Beca, squeezing her hand gently, “Just like you.”</p><p>She delighted in watching Beca blush. Her <em>wife</em>. Beca was now <em>her wife</em>. <em>She</em> was <em>Beca’s</em> wife. They were married.</p><p>The two women took a deep breath each, their faces slowly edging towards each other, and as they gently nudged the tips of their noses, they smiled softly.</p><p>“I can’t believe this has happened.” Beca mumbled and Chloe’s smile grew.</p><p>“And to think this is only day four of quarantine.”</p><p>Beca hummed in agreement before slowly closing the gap. And the two wives shared a gentle kiss.</p>
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<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28</h2></a>
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